Stuck to Fate
by Mistress of Dreamz
Summary: When Sirius's plan to cheer James up backfires, Lily and James find themselves stuck together for two endless weeks. Lily and James know that there'll be daily problems they face but what happens when people fall in love?
1. The Royal Knight

Chapter One – The Royal Knight

* * *

"Prongs, I am sick of you moping around this bloody dorm," Sirius stated loudly that night as they all changed out of their robes.

Remus and Peter nodded silently in agreement with their friend.

James looked puzzled at their declaration of "moping around this bloody dorm" and stared Sirius down, daring him to go on.

"Evans ALWAYS turns you down, Prongs," Sirius said, dropping his tie on the ground. "You should be used to it by now."

James said nothing but instead glared icily at his "best friend."

"I mean," Sirius continued, "You should forget about her and move on. There are many prospects out there… many willing prospects. I could easily line up six – at the minimum – snogging sessions for you if you like." Sirius looked at his friend hopefully.

"Erm, Padfoot," Remus interjected, "I really don't think that's what Prongs wants."

"Nonsense," Sirius waved away Remus's statement. "That's exactly what he needs – I mean – er – wants."

"I'd like to have Lily, thank you very much," James hissed as he unbuttoned his shirt.

"Right; Problem is she doesn't want you, mate," Sirius said rather rudely. "And to your advantage there are many girls that do want you."

"I don't like the other girls, Padfoot," James declared, shoving his dirty clothes under the bed.

"Well… we'll see about that," Sirius murmured into the silence as his fellow Marauders slipped off into sleep. "Just wait and see, James, just wait and see."

* * *

The next day was rather awkward for James. As he walked into Transfiguration, he noticed Lily sitting in her usual seat, talking happily with Alice Prewett. James turned his head to face the floor as he slipped into his seat, which, coincidentally, was right next to Lily's.

He pulled out his parchment and quill, ready to doodle the entire lesson. When Lily did the same – but to take notes – James recoiled slightly in his seat, sinking slowly lower in his seat.

Last week had been a disaster that was for sure. Normally when Lily rejected him he was fine with it, ready to go on with life and try again later. But last week went off the charts and rendered him immobile from shock and embarrassment.

As Professor McGonagall droned on about vanishing spells, James chanced a glance at Lily. She was determinedly taking notes, mouthing them as she wrote them. James sighed to himself. How could he have been so stupid? If there had been a cauldron full of boiling potion, James would have dumped his head in it to relieve the thoughts in his head.

With another sigh James turned his attention to McGonagall, not willing to dwell on that horrific afternoon.

* * *

It had been an hour after lunch had ended. Students were given the afternoon off for the Professors to organize meetings, grade papers, and get a day off. James was sitting under the tree with his fellow Marauders, playing with his snitch, much like the day after they completed their OWLs the previous year. Lily and her friends were sitting near the lake, still, similar to their fifth year.

James, having been busy watching Lily talk and laugh with her friends, hadn't been aware of letting the snitch out of his grip. It shot around him with mighty speed, but before James could snatch it back up with his excellent reflexes, it flew off around the grounds.

James made to get up and go retrieve it, but, Peter, who was in unusually high spirits, jumped up, excitedly squealing that he wanted to go get it.

James had sighed reluctantly, allowing Peter to wet himself with joy and chase after the snitch like a dog chasing its own tail.

However, after twenty minutes of this, Peter still failed to catch the snitch. James was inches from summoning his broomstick to hop on and retrieve the snitch, like a true Seeker, when Peter was just a foot from it… consequently near the water's edge.

With another squeal of delight, Peter leapt in the air to grab the snitch. Though, brave as the move was, it was also extremely stupid.

With a splash Peter landed in the lake, twenty feet from the water's edge. How he had leapt that far, no one knew, but being the good friends they were, they jumped up to rescue him. James, being slightly aware of Lily's watching eye, made to impress her as he played the royal knight, coming to Peter's aid.

Peter was frantically splashing like a maniac, his head bobbing in the water. James waded in knee deep to help his friend, but, much to James's disgust, Peter's frantic movements were drawing him farther and farther from the edge.

"Prongs, you're gonna hafta go in after him!" Sirius called from the edge, standing happily next to Remus. "Attach him to your back if you have to!"

James glowered at his friend.

"Wormtail!" he yelled at his friend, the splashing still not subsiding. "Stop splashing, you idiot!"

And much to James's relief, he did.

Except… the relief didn't last for long. With a gasp James saw Peter go under the water's surface, faintly aware of a girl screaming behind him.

"Oh shit!" James cussed. He bounced on his feet and dove under the water, ready to save his friend from death… as heroically as possible.

Within a matter of minutes James had rescued Peter and was carrying him to the shore, listening to him cough up water all the while. James dumped him unceremoniously on the grass, wiping his sopping wet hair out his eyes. He sighed in aggravation and turned to face his friends.

"Um… thanks?" Sirius offered, as Remus tended to Peter.

James grumbled something incoherent but turned away from his friend all the same. Someone had come up beside him, and, turning to see who it was, found out it was none other than Lily Evans.

"Hey Evans," James said smoothly, greeting her.

"Potter," she replied crisply, bending down to ask Peter how he was doing. "Thank Merlin you have a friend like James," she said to Peter, shooting a scathing look at Sirius, "or you'd be dead right about now."

"You like knights in shining armor, Evans?" James asked, intrigued.

"None of the sort who're related to you, Potter."

"Care to go on a date with me and change your mind?" James asked hopefully, now aware of his appearance: wet, wet and more wet.

"I still prefer the giant squid, Potter," she said before sitting back down on the grass with her friends.

James sighed, confused, and turned to face Peter.

"You all right, mate?" he asked.

"Fine," Peter mumbled, shivering a bit now.

"Here, Prongs," Sirius said, coming towards James. "Lemme help you."

James sighed again and looked at his friend, wondering what he was going to do.

"I'll dry you off," Sirius said reassuringly.

But drying James off was certainly not what Sirius did. Hours later Sirius still claimed it an accident, but James was nearly positive it was intentional.

With a wave of Sirius's wand, James's trousers, still wet from the lake, disappeared from his legs. James blinked and glanced down, praying to himself, begging Merlin to let this be a terrible dream.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, Prongs!" Sirius exclaimed, glancing around, trying to figure out where James's pants had gone. "Hang on," he said, and with another swift flick of his wand, James's shirt was missing too.

James was stuck standing there, in the middle of the crowded group of onlookers, standing in nothing but his shoes, robe and boxers, looking extremely upset.

"What," James hissed, "in the bloody hell are you about, Padfoot?"

"I didn't mean it, Prongs, honestly I didn't!" Sirius exclaimed as Remus attempted to summon James some clothes from their dormitory.

James felt a pair of eyes (well, one pair in particular) watching him. Turning to see who it was he noticed Lily Evans, smirking at his current state. When she noticed him noticing her noticing him, she turned quickly away, blushing scarlet. This put a grin on James's face.

"Okay, James, I know what I did wrong," Sirius declared. With one more swift wave of his wand, Sirius expected to find a cheerful James, nice and clean in dry clothes. But no; no, that's not what he saw at all. Sirius ended up looking dead on at more of James than he ever thought possible.

With a scream of terror, James attempted to cover himself, yelling at Sirius, asking how the hell he'd manage to take his trousers, shirt, and boxers too.

Remus, having successfully summoned some clothes for James, hurried up to his friend with a pair of trousers, a shirt and some new boxers. James hopped over to behind the tree with great difficulty (attempting to keep himself covered the entire time) and quickly did up his clothes as discretely as possible.

When he came out from behind the tree, he was ready to throttle Sirius for his stupidity.

Normally this amount of attention flattered James – but this was not the right reason for the attention. He had been mortified – in front of Lily, to make it worse. Actually, to write on his headstone, mere seconds after a failed attempt of asking her out. Again.

* * *

James sighed in his spot as he vanished his guinea pig with little effort. Boy, was he never going to be able to face Lily again. 


	2. The Perfect Plan

Chapter Two – The Perfect Plan

* * *

But that had been a week ago and apparently Sirius had other plans for James.

Sneaking into the library after his fellow Marauders had drifted off to sleep, accompanied by James's invisibility cloak and Marauder's Map, he was determined to do something to yank James out of his depressed state.

Running his fingers along the spines of the books, he searched for hours for the right spell, debating in his mind what would work best, to whom it should be influenced with, how X, Y and Z would react and every other possible question under the sun. It wasn't until 3am that Sirius found the perfect spell – a potion, actually – that seemed to fit the requirements.

Smirking at the thought of Madam Pince's horrified look, Sirius ripped out the instructions carefully from the book, slipping them into his pocket as he crept slowly out of the library.

Smirking once again to himself, he was pleased with the idea. All it would take was less than a day to brew the potion and less than three seconds for it to take effect once consumed. This was perfect. Absa-bloody-lutely perfect.

* * *

Lily spent the majority of the night lying awake in bed, staring fixedly at the canopy over her bed. She was lost in thoughts – and much to her disgust – of Potter. She had seen a change in his behavior the last couple days. For instance he wasn't asking her out every day in Transfiguration, as she was used to. He even wasn't watching her dreamily, twirling his quill around and around his finger like he used to do. Lily hated to admit it to herself, but she kind of missed it. 

Instead, James slunk low in his seat and didn't speak a word all through his classes. She occasionally saw him pass notes between his fellow Marauders but she didn't think that was reason to be suspicious. He didn't do anything to disrupt the learning environment or anything, really, that she could scorn him for.

Through all the racing thoughts of James Potter, Lily comforted herself with the thought that surely she wasn't the only one who'd seen the drop in Potter's behavior since last weeks debacle. Lily grinned sheepishly into her pillow as she remembered what happened.

No, she told herself and any intruders into her brain /**A/N: cough cough/ **she wasn't grinning because she liked Potter – she was grinning at the memory of his humiliation. James Potter had always gone to so many lengths to make sure he humiliated Lily on a daily basis that she couldn't give a flying pig's bum about Potter and his own suffering embarrassment. Besides, she told herself, James Potter loved the attention.

True, she had looked when the squeals of his fan club signaled the "mysterious" disappearance of his pants and, sure, she grinned a bit and watched him, much to her own revulsion. But this was not because she liked James Potter. It was, as she had told her friends, because she was a girl, and what girl would pass that opportunity up? It just so happened to be Potter that was cursed with such a staring party.

It caught Lily by surprise, though, when her cheeks flushed red when he lost his boxers. She was positive that she was sharing his embarrassment, but, by much ribbing, compliments of her friends, was now slightly convinced that she felt "caught in the act," so to speak. As if she had been watching James with his trousers off for some time now, almost begging the next layer to come off soon.

Which, after this thought occurred to her, sent her mind into hysterics. Being a witch or wizard had its disadvantages, sure: most commonly it was temper that led them to do something unintentionally. But for a few brief moments, Lily was wondering if her subconscious wanted those boxers off, therefore making them come off – with magic.

After a minute of blushing at the idea and many panicked thoughts of that, Lily "calmly" reassured herself that it had been Sirius who had caused James such a – misfortune.

Letting her mind wander a bit more… Lily finally settled on the idea that, being such a kind and caring person as she was, the only reason James Potter was on her mind was because he had been deeply embarrassed, and she felt some – if any – sympathy for him.

That was it, it just had to be.

* * *

Remus played his role rather nicely, when it came to being friends with the Marauders. He talked them out of irrational pranks and kept the cool when a fight or retaliation was coming good and near, he even stepped aside and let them beat each other to a pulp when he felt they truly needed it. Remus was always one to help his friends out of a slump and make sure they were feeling better. He was always there, right alongside the others, ready for anything. 

But he absolutely, positively would not do this.

Remus stared at Sirius unblinkingly.

"You really think this'll cheer James up?" Remus asked Sirius quietly over breakfast the next morning.

"Shesh, I shoo," Sirius replied messily: his mouth was full of eggs. He swallowed. "Yes, I do," he repeated, a bit clearer this time.

"How then," Remus went on, "do you think he'll enjoy this?"

"Well," Sirius thought quietly for a moment. "I'm not sure if he'll exactly ENJOY it… but it'll get his mind off some other things – people."

"Well, yes," Remus said, poking at his toast with a fork, "but what if he just needs time to recover? Like usual?"

"'Time to recover'? Wow, Remus, what's up with you? James has never had to 'recover' he was always quick back on his feet, ready to try again," Sirius declared, taking a swig of his pumpkin juice.

"Exactly," Remus said a bit louder as Sirius began to eat his bacon noisily.

"'Exactly' what?" Sirius asked stupidly, his cheeks puffed out a bit, storing his bacon.

"James has never had a fall like this," Remus said, lowering his voice as Sirius swallowed. "This is one time and he needs time to _recuperate. _He needs some time to figure whatever it is out in his mind, Padfoot."

"We're his best mates, Moony," Sirius said, staring at Remus disbelievingly. "I will not have Prongs moping around all depressed for a month. I won't let him suffer like that. Now you can take part in this or not, but I'm going to do it anyway."

"Then I'd rather not take part in it," Remus sniffed, turning his attention back to his toast.

"Fine," Sirius snapped. He grabbed his bag and stalked quickly out of the Great Hall, many eyes of hopeful girls following him as he went.

* * *

"Quit doing that, Peter." 

"Doing what?"

"_That_."

"_What?_"

"For Merlin's sake, just stop already."

"What am I doing?"

"That."

"What's 'that'?"

"Forget it."

"Okay."

A couple seconds passed in silence.

"QUIT SCRATCHING YOUR BLOODY NOSE! YOU'RE DRIVING ME UP THE WALL!"

"Oh," Peter squeaked in a small voice. "Sorry," he said in an even smaller tone.

Peter, who had been scratching the side of his nose nervously, was, apparently, annoying Sirius to the thought of contemplating murder.

Sirius stirred the potion they were brewing slowly clockwise, then counterclockwise.

"Don't," he said sharply.

"What? I wasn't doing anything!" Peter exclaimed.

"I saw you move your finger. No way are you scratching your frickin nose. Again."

"I did not," Peter said indignantly.

"You so did," Sirius declared, sounding rather girlish.

That shut Peter up in a right hurry.

The two continued brewing the potion until the final stir was stirred and the final cork was corked.

"Beautiful," whispered Sirius as he admired the potion. "Absolutely beautiful."

"Erm… why is it so beautiful?" Peter asked, stupidly, as was his nature.

"Because this little beauty will keep us laughing for a week," Sirius said, smiling moronically.

"How?" Peter asked as they cleaned up and headed back to Gryffindor tower.

Sirius patted the flask of aqua blue potion passionately. "Wait and see, Wormtail. Wait and see."


	3. Upsetting Surprises

Chapter Three – Upsetting Surprises

* * *

James woke up the next morning feeling numb and empty, as if nothing was right in his world.

But of course, he reminded himself, nothing is right. You are embarrassed for once in your life and you can't even look at Evans now because of it.

James grumbled some sure fire ideas to pay Sirius back as he rolled out of bed and into the bathroom to get ready. James hissed many insults to a pretend Sirius as he showered and thought up devious spells to ruin his own esteem – even though it was already a week after the… incident.

As the morning went smoothly enough from waking up to getting ready, a smile erupted on James's face.

Maybe today it'll all be normal again, he thought as he dropped his comb on the counter, opening the bathroom door.

Nope, he grumbled, as he found himself tripping over a pair of Sirius's dirty trousers. Of course it won't get better.

* * *

Sirius, being the troublemaking Marauder he was, awoke earlier than his fellow roommates to make it down to breakfast early. He was determined to get James out of his pathetic depression. There was only so much of this Sirius could take.

A short girl with very pretty long blonde hair and perfect cookie-cutter walked into the Great Hall. Sirius caught her attention, waving her over.

"Hey Lynelle," Sirius greeted her, waving her into a seat.

"Hey Sirius," she replied smoothly, looking around.

Lynelle was a seventh year Gryffindor girl who had the heart of almost all boys in Hogwarts. Sirius knew from the friend of a friend of his snogging partner that Lynelle had a big crush on James and would do just about anything to touch him. He also knew that Lynelle hated Lily more than anything because James focused all of his attention, day and night, on Lily. And, due to her hate, Lily's eyes flashed with fury every time the girls passed in the common room of in the halls. Lynelle would be perfect for this.

"You sure he likes me, Sirius?" Lynelle asked, picking up waffle to eat.

"Of course he does," Sirius lied smoothly. "All you have to do is touch him once he starts to eat… and, well, he'll know you like him back."

"Really?" she asked, glancing around in search of James.

"Yep," Sirius continued to lie. "It'll drive his senses wild, and… well, something will happen, I guarantee you."

* * *

With much debating, James finally decided he'd step up to the plate and be his old self again. He would continue doing as he always did: asking Lily out, staring at her non-stop during the day and tracing her initials when he should be listening to the professors.

"Right mate," James told his reflection as he tightened his tie, "you can do this. Just Go. Act. Normal."

Gathering himself he walked out of the dormitory, determined to do his best to act normal.

* * *

Lily sat down at the Gryffindor table with Alice for breakfast, pretending as if nothing had happened last night. Well, truthfully nothing HAD happened, but her thoughts had kept her awake all night.

"How'd you sleep, Lily?" her friend Eliza asked as she reached for the margarine.

"Oh, fine thanks," Lily answered quickly, wondering if they could read her mind.

"Er… okay."

* * *

Sirius slipped the potion into the pumpkin juice sitting opposite him as he saw James approaching. Smirking at the idea, he quickly hid the remains and smiled innocently at his friend as he sat down.

"Hi, James," Lynelle said sweetly as he sat down next to her.

"Er… hi, Lynelle," James answered awkwardly. He quirked his brow at Sirius to ask what she was doing down on their end of the table. Sirius just sent a curious look back, clearly saying he had "no idea."

"Pumpkin juice?" Sirius asked after a minute, offering James the goblet of potion.

"Sure, thanks," James said, reaching for it. "I'll need it, I have something I need to take car of in a second."

Lynelle's eyes shone with happiness at these words.

James drowned the pumpkin juice in one gulp before standing up, much to Sirius's shock.

"Thanks mate," James said, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "Be back in a minute."

"No! James, wait!" Sirius exclaimed, rising.

But it was too late; James had already set off purposely down the table, on his mini-mission.

Someone cleared their throat behind Lily. Not paying too much attention, Lily didn't turn around, until a familiar voice said, "Evans."

Lily turned.

"Yes, Potter?" she asked, forgetting her obsessing thoughts of him, and beginning to hate his arrogance once more.

James, who had been slightly nervous preparing to talk to Lily again, felt his spirits soar as she turned to look at him, annoyed she was.

He cleared his throat again and re-gained his airy confidence.

"So, Evans," he said, ruffling his untidy black hair with his right hand. "I was thinking… maybe you'd like to go with me on the Hogsmeade trip tomorrow."

"And why would I do that, Potter?" Lily asked icily, glaring at him.

"Because I'm Quidditch captain, exceedingly handsome, in love with you, and you know you want me," James said arrogantly.

"You know what, Potter?" Lily asked, fire dancing in her eyes as she stood up to be level with him. "I'm – just – about – sick – and – tired – of – you," she said shortly through gritted teeth.

James, not willing to show it of course, was deeply hurt. Those words stung more than Sirius's Stinging Hex he'd put on him last year.

"Evans," James continued smoothly, attempting to keep his cool, "you're just saying that. You know you want me – you just don't want to admit it."

"I hate you, Potter," Lily said savagely. "I wish you'd die, being the arrogant prat you are!"

"Now, Evans, you don't mean that," James said, his voice faltering a bit at her words.

"Oh really?" she asked, walking closer to him, making him smirk at their close proximity.

"Yeah," James said a bit more confidently.

"So if I like you, Potter, why the Merlin would I do this?" she asked softly.

"Do what?" James asked, unable to hide his grin.

"This," Lily mouthed.

With one quick movement, she raised her hand in the air and struck James across the face, his eyes widening in shock.

"I'm sick you, Potter," she hissed as she struck him again.

But, before she could hit him a third time she let out a yelp of pain, staring down at her hand frantically.

Electricity ran the length of Lily's arm, shocking her. But before she could concentrate on the pain, her hand snapped involuntarily down to James's. With a high-pitched scream, Lily attempted to yank her hand out of James's, who was looking puzzled but thoroughly pleased.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Lily shrieked, trying with all her might to pry her hand out of James's.

"N-n-nothing," James stammered, extremely confused.

Sirius, who had seen the entire fiasco, crept slowly past the two and down the hall, determined to not get blamed for this.

"LET GO OF ME!" Lily screamed, tugging her hand even harder.

"I can't!" James exclaimed, shaking his hand furiously to show her.

Lily let out an exasperated scream.

Now the entire Great Hall was watching, Dumbledore included.

Shaking in fury, Lily put her right foot up on the wall behind James. Pushing her foot on the wall and tugging her hand, her face was contorted in determination. With another scream, she put her left foot up on the wall too and began to pull even harder on her hand.

Seeing Lily's position, James quirked a brow at Remus who was standing a couple feet away.

"Aaaaaargh!" Lily screamed, placing her feet back on the ground, her face as red as her hair. "UNDO THE SPELL, POTTER!" she demanded loudly, stomping her foot and looking James directly in the eyes.

The rage that had been flaming in Lily's eyes from the first word James had spoken to her that morning had erupted into a forest fire. She was seething, biting her tongue, breathing deeply, very upset.

With one last aggravated sigh, she turned on her heel and marched out of the Great Hall, James being dragged along behind her.


	4. Silence, Thoughts and Wishful Thinking

Chapter Four – Silence, Thoughts and Wishful Thinking

* * *

Lily marched furiously down the corridor, up two flights of stairs, took the right hall and made a turn at the left corridor, pushing open the door to the girl's loos with extreme force. Apparently unaware of James's presence, she marched into one of the stalls, ready to bang her head against the door and sob angry tears.

James was a little preoccupied with the fact that he was in the girl's loos. He grinned wickedly and looked around, determined to get as many details as possible to report back to his fellow Marauders. It was very similar to the boy's loos although there were more mirrors that littered almost every surface, engraved with Hogwarts' previous couples' names. Much like in muggle loos, the stall doors were littered with I LOVE …'s written in red lipstick or black marker. Even for a loo, the bathroom had a certain… elegance… to it. A large crystal chandelier dangled from the ceiling and large round chairs were gathered in a neat arc near the door. There were even a couple magazines on end tables near the tables. James rolled his eyes at the sight. No wonder they come in here in packs, he thought to himself, they all have parties in this thing.

His thoughts were interrupted by a yank on his arm. He found himself once again being dragged along by Lily Evans. James's eyes grew wide as they saw her walk into a loo. Panicking, he debated silently if she simply forgot he was there, or was ready for a frisky rendezvous.

But James was clearly wrong. Lily stomped noisily into the stall, slamming the door behind her. Turning around she found herself looking directly at James's neck, complete with white collared shirt and Gryffindor tie. She gulped, remembering what had just happened and raised her head to look at James.

His brows were knitted in confusion, looking everywhere but at Lily. This was rather uncomfortable – it was embarrassing and cramped.

Lily blinked, unsure of what to do. She glanced down at her hand that was attached to James, and attempted to make a cover.

"So – I – uh – I came in here to – uh – discuss – uh – um – to discuss – this," Lily stumbled rather stupidly.

James glanced down at their joined hands and cleared his throat.

"I really didn't do it, Lily, I swear," he said looking at her green eyes as she focused them on the floor.

"Yeah," Lily mumbled, for some reason believing him. "Yeah, I understand."

The tiny stall filled with silence and an uncomfortable fidgeting from James. He couldn't stand being inches away from the girl he was in love with and not touch her.

James wanted so desperately to reach his hand out and brush away the lock of red hair from Lily's cheek, lift her chin and grin at her, then lean in and kiss her. Granted, if he did that, she'd knee him in the groin and hit him till even his eyes turned blue.

So he didn't. James shoved his hands (well, the one he had free) deep down in his pockets and sighed, staring at his trainers.

"I suppose we should go get this fixed," Lily said after a couple minutes of silence. "Seeing as you can't and I don't even know what it is."

"Er," James said, unsure of what to do.

"C'mon, James," Lily said, forgetting to use his surname. "Let's go to Dumbledore."

James grinned at the use of his first name and followed Lily out of the loos (much to the wide-eyes of a couple first years) and up the stairs, down a couple corridors and to the stone gargoyle that stood standing, guarding Professor Dumbledore's office.

* * *

Professor Dumbledore was a man highly amused by the many antics of his students. Watching them come and go through his study throughout the day with this problem or that problem or being accused of doing this or actually, really, doing that and their many problems and failures, successes and confusions, everything about the students he could understand and consume without changing his facial expression, but this? No, this was priceless. 

When Lily Evans and James Potter entered his study holding hands, as if sewn together at the skin, Dumbledore smiled inwardly, wondering where he had been when the greatest enemies – except, perhaps, Gryffindor and Slytherin – began dating. But, as the two teenagers "er"med and "uh"med with many nervous glances towards the door and at their own feet, telling the story of their situation, it grew apparent that they weren't holding hands because they wanted to, but, rather, that they had to.

Sure, Dumbledore had seen the pair in the Great Hall earlier that morning, fussing over one thing or another – most likely James had asked Lily out once again – but he hadn't thought that something like this would have happened.

Smiling at the confused pair, Dumbledore stood up and walked around his desk to face the two. He lifted their joined hands and examined the clasped – error. After many minutes of silence, Dumbledore cleared his throat and offered the seats to the two, ready to tell them the tale.

"It appears," he said calmly, "that a certain – potion – was used for this. Now, unlike Ms. Bridgestone and Mr. Revington that were joined at the hand last year – you two do _not _have to fall in love and kiss for -"

Lily cringed at the idea of falling in love and kissing James Potter while James found himself rather disappointed.

"- the spell to be reversed," Dumbledore went on, pretending he hadn't seen the students' reactions. "However, this particular spell requires you two to be joined at the hands for two weeks – fourteen days – no exceptions or exclusions for any matter."

Dumbledore looked up to watch the two as they worked out the conclusion in their heads.

"I expect," Dumbledore went on, "for you two to learn to get along and learn your lesson," he smiled as he thought of the idea. "You both shall meet and overcome challenges in your – predicament – but you shall not ask for help or assistance. You two need to learn to handle these on your own."

"But, Professor," James said in a small voice, still working the facts, "we didn't cast the spell – potion, I mean – we didn't make it; we didn't DO this." He lifted his hand for example as Lily's hung limply to his own.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.

"Yes," he said as if James hadn't said anything he cared about. "Yes, I did think that was the cause. Either way, you'll have to work through it. I'm terribly sorry someone slipped either of you the potion, but there is no way to reverse this. It's a very tricky potion that has no remedy. You two need to work out your differences and enjoy your time – together."

Lily and James took this as a cue that they were dismissed. They stood and muttered their goodbyes, wandering down the hall and back to Gryffindor common room, enveloped in complete silence.

* * *

"James is NOT going to kill me," Sirius defended himself. 

"James is SO going to kill you, Padfoot," Remus corrected, patting his friend on the shoulder.

"No he's not," Sirius mumbled huffily.

"Do you WANT to start a "no he wont" – "yes he will" war? I really don't want to but I will if I have to," Remus said, narrowing his eyes at his friend.

Sirius had just finished describing his fiasco to Remus, telling him every detail, hoping beyond hoping that James wouldn't kill him – he was nearly positive Lily would.

"Maybe I don't have to tell him," Sirius said softly after a couple minutes of thoughtful silence.

"What?" Remus asked incredulously.

"Yep," Sirius said, standing up from his chair by the common room fire. "I won't tell him. Case settled. Thanks, Moony," Sirius said, walking off to join a crowd of giggling girls.

"Padfoot!" Remus called after him. After a second Remus rolled his eyes. Its not worth it, he told himself, James'll find out soon enough anyway.

* * *

The common room slowly emptied to reveal a calm Saturday night. There were only two students left in the common room, hunched over books, studying and writing up essays at a table near the fire, one hand clasped with the other on the surface as they attempted to hold the pages of the book down and write at the same time. Both Lily and James were showing no improvement with mastering this skill. 

"Alright, I'm fed up with this," Lily said, snarling and glaring at the book as she closed it with a slam. "What about you?" she asked James, looking at him chew his quill in frustration as he held the page of his Transfiguration book down with his elbow and wrote with half his right hand.

"What?" he asked, looking up and losing the page he was holding.

"Are you done for the night or not?" she asked, checking the watch on her wrist for the time. Three in the morning.

"Oh," he said, yawning. "Yeah, I'm done."

"Then lets go up to bed," Lily said, yawning one too many times.

Lily made for the girl's staircase as James made for the boys. Both stopped as their arms reached full capacity and couldn't go any farther. Glowering at each other for going to wrong way, they stood still for a moment.

"Oh no," Lily said after a minute, comprehension dawning on her.

"What?" James asked, still attempting to figure it out.

"We can't sleep in our own dorms. We're attached," she said, waving their hands feebly.

"Oh," James said, it all clicking.

"Now what?" James asked after a couple more silent (this was happening too often) minutes.

Lily sighed, attempting to work out the words she knew were the conclusion.

"Who's dorm?" she asked.


	5. Overactive Teenage Minds

Chapter Five – Overactive Teenage Minds

* * *

"My dorm," James said, dragging Lily towards the boy's staircase.

"Why yours?" Lily asked, stopping to look at him.

"Because _your dorm_," he said accusingly, "won't even let me up the _stairs_."

"Oh," Lily said, remembering the founder's ideas that boys weren't nearly as trustworthy as girls.

"Yes, 'oh,'" James said, continuing to tug Lily up the first step of the staircase.

"But I need stuff from my dorm!"

"Well you'll have to live without it! Your dorms won't let me IN!" James hissed.

"But what will I sleep in?" Lily asked, wanting her green short-shorts and tank top to sleep in with fuzzy slippers and robe.

"You can borrow some of my clothes, Lily," James said, attempting to drag her up the second step.

"What clothes?" Lily asked, an image of her sleeping in James's shirt and tie.

"I dunno, Lily," he said rather exasperatedly, "my boxers or something."

Lily blushed. "Your what?" she asked softly.

"My boxers," James repeated. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Yes, James," she said, once again forgetting that using his first name was a no-no. "I do mind. I want MY pajamas. And we WILL get my pajamas. Now follow me and be QUIET."

With a tug they were heading in the opposite direction, stepping tenderly on the girl's staircase.

* * *

Lily tiptoed up the stairs, carefully stepping on each step and waiting for it to turn to a slide before moving on to the next one. James was moving slowly behind her, obviously in doubt that this would work. Lily was secretly convinced that it'd let her up and forget about James's anatomy walking up the stairs. 

Lily let out a breath of happiness as they reached the landing to her dorm.

"Great, it worked," she whispered, opening the door. "Now – be – quiet," she said sternly to James as she walked into the dark dorm, James trailing along behind her.

Much like the girls' loos, the girls' dormitory was very girly and very unlike the boys'. Dirty robes and other clothes were in a messy heap in a wicker basket at the end of each bed, next to their trunks, unlike where in James's dormitory the clothes were scattered on the floor. There were girly posters of dance movies and plays – classes, even – even ones of shirtless guys on beaches (James breathed a sigh of relief when Lily didn't have one of these); there were many cosmetics littered around the bedside tables and seven mirrors total in the dormitory alone (James didn't want to know how many were in the bathroom); there were frilly stuffed animals on beds and hanging from the canopies, some squished in groups into corners and some even sitting next to the lamps; there were many –_ many_ – girl items littering the room: bras, nail polish and everything else under the sun that went into making a girl a girl for the day. James shuddered to think what was in the bathroom.

He was jerked out of his faze by Lily who walked over to her bed and began gathering things from her trunk. She pulled out her pajamas (green shorts and tight black tank top with matching slippers and a robe), clothes for the next day and her socks and another pair of trainers.

"C'mon," Lily whispered, shoving her things into his arms unexpectedly. She beckoned for him to follow her into the bathroom. James followed, a feeling of apprehension building in his stomach.

The bathroom was pink. It was pink, entirely pink. There was an entire wall of mirrors and a large bathtub/shower combo sitting in the corner. There was a PINK toilet and many other hooks and closets. There were other things (_girl things_, James remembered with a jolt as he saw the blue lace trim of someone's bra) in the room as well that scared James half to death. When he saw a hot pink box sticking out of one of the cabinets, James went to investigate; when he found out what it was he muffled a scream and shoved the box back in the cabinet, moving closer to where Lily was fishing stuff out of her own cabinet and moving it over to her shower caddy.

"Okay, ready," Lily whispered, standing up and moving to the bathroom door. "Be – quiet," she said again sharply before moving swiftly out of the bathroom, and through the dorm. "The slide'll kick in now," she said as they hit the landing.

And sure enough as soon as James's foot hit the step, the staircase turned into a smooth concrete slide, allowing them to slip and slide the whole way down.

"Alright," James said, standing up and helping Lily up as well. "NOW can we go to bed?"

"Yes, now we can go to bed," Lily said as she followed him quietly up the staircase.

* * *

"I can't believe you didn't think this through, Potter," Lily hissed, bringing his surname into the deal. 

"I didn't think it'd happen," James grumbled, staring at his four-poster bed with disgust.

"You didn't think this would _happen_?" Lily yelled at him in a whisper. "We're attached at the hand you didn't think _this would happen_?"

"No, Lily, I didn't," James said quietly, glancing around to make sure his roommates were fast asleep.

"I'm going to change," she mumbled, picking up her pajamas and marching to the boy's dormitory bathroom.

But Lily forgot James was attached to her. Slamming the door shut and her skirt already three inches down her hips, Lily remembered James was in the room with him.

Lily began to scream, but before she could fully get the scream out, James's hand was clapped tight over her mouth to muffle the sound.

"Shh!" he hissed. "You don't want to wake up my dorm, have them come in here and find you partially undressed at 4am, do you?"

Lily stopped immediately at the idea and shut up.

"Turn around!" she hissed.

James turned obediently around as she changed out of her robes and into her pajamas.

"Now your turn," he said as he picked up his own pajamas to change into.

"Okay, I'm ready," he said after a few moments of shuffling and changing.

"Okay, good," Lily said, turning round to face him again.

But, once again Lily tried to scream but James managed to clap his hand over her mouth to shut her up.

"YOU DON'T WEAR A SHIRT TO BED?" Lily asked staring wide-eyed at James's bear chest which was near level with her head.

"No I don't," James replied indignantly. "So what."

But that so what didn't last long.

They were standing, clad in pajamas in front of James's four-poster as his wristwatch beeped 5am.

"Who's gonna sleep on the floor?" James asked, eyeing his bed warily. Merlin was he tired.

"What?' Lily asked quietly, thinking of her cozy bed in her nice, girly dorm.

"Who's gonna sl-"

"I heard what you said," she snapped, cutting him off. "But what? We are NOT sleeping on the floor!"

"Well, you obviously won't sleep in that bed with me, so who's sleeping on the floor?" James asked praying for the bed – but sleep in general.

"Neither of us are sleeping on the floor, James," Lily whispered, sitting down on the left side of his bed.

"So we're gonna share the bed?" James asked, the teenage-boy-mind kicking in.

"Yes, now get in here," she said as she slipped off her robe and left it and her slippers on the ground by the bed. She crawled under the covers, leaving half the bed to James. "Just don't try anything, please."

James crawled tentatively into the bed next to Lily, his right arm stretching out as Lily moved; hey, her arm moved, his arm moved.

"G'night, Lily," James mumbled, rolling over to face Frank's bed.

"G'night, James," Lily yawned back, facing Peter's bed.

And within three seconds of their goodnights, the pair was out cold.

* * *

"Oh my Merlin." 

"What?"

"Prongs got lucky last night."

"Really?"

"With who?"

"Let me see!"

"Oh my Merlin, he DID get lucky!"

"I told you so!"

"With Evans."

"God, how many love potions did he GIVE her?"

"That practically knocked them out cold."

"Aw, they're holding hands!"

"No shite, Wormtail."

"So how did he get her in here?"

"How did she sleep in his BED?"

"What's she wearing?"

"Why do you want to know, Padfoot?"

"To see if they DID anything of course."

"I'm not going to look at what she's wearing."

"Then you do it, Wormtail."

"NO!"

"Whimp."

"Pervert."

"Proud of it."

"How can they sleep with this racket going on around them?"

"I don't know."

"God, Prongs is getting some serious ribbing tonight."

"I can agree with that."

"Count me in."

"Me too."

"C'mon, let's go down to breakfast."

"Sure."

"I'm coming."

"Wait for me!"

* * *

Lily and James had unfortunately only had three hours of sleep when the Marauders and their roommate – Frank Longbottom – woke up and found them together. So, much to the either good of bad side of it al (no one can decided) they were totally out cold for the entire conversation. They were just sleeping the entire time, not a single care in the world. 

James opened his eyes and looked straight out in front of him. Facing him was the most gorgeous girl he had ever known, obviously still asleep and he knew that once she opened her eyes, he'd be five inches away from her vivid green eyes.

And his prediction was correct.

Lily's eyes fluttered open and found her face just inches from James Potter's, their joined hands in the middle of them. Lily's hand had worked her way up to rest on his hand out of the pair while she was sleeping. Fortunately she didn't notice this yet – but James did.

He would have kissed her if she didn't mind. But she would, so he didn't. Their lips just sat inches apart as they stared at each other as Sunday afternoon blazed around them.

Noticing how close they were to "bonding" and "becoming friends," Lily brushed her hair behind her ear and mumbled, "We should get ready. We've already missed breakfast; we don't want to miss lunch too."

The two dressed for the day, each turning around while the other got ready, smirking to themselves at the slightest idea. Teenage minds were obviously contagious.


	6. Playing on the Pitch

Chapter Six – Playing on the Pitch

* * *

Lily was vaguely aware of what had happened last night but she was determined to keep the memories to herself. True, she did hate Potter on a number of levels, like the stupid arrogance level of his ego for example. But through what had – happened – last night, Lily was sure that if word of it had gotten around the school would automatically come to the conclusion that the two were dating – or doing something that was pretty darn close to dating. Lily was sure that James would be thrilled at the idea of such a rumor, but she was positive that she would not be. It was torture enough to have to be attached to James Potter without rumors flying every which way. What made their attachment worse, Lily thought as she ate her fruit at lunch, was that she had just begun to feel sorry for Potter – for him being quiet and all. But now, she assured herself, now that was so out the window and in the past, never to be seen again.

"–So I don't know what the plan is. I have to make it to practice or we won't be able to play in Wednesday's game against Ravenclaw. Got any suggestions?" James was saying as he chewed hungrily on his sandwich.

Remus, who had been discussing Quidditch practice that evening with James – and the little problem of who he was attached to – shot a glance over at Lily, who was poking sadly at her pie.

"All right, Evans?" he asked, sounding much like James.

"Huh?" Lily asked sadly, sounding just like she looked. "Sorry, Remus, I didn't hear you."

"Are you all right?" he repeated, looking quizzically at James for support. "You seem out of it today."

"Oh, I'm – I'm fine," Lily lied as she started gnawing on a piece of parsley distractedly.

"What's up with her?" Remus whispered to James as he watched her glassy eyes stare off into her food.

"I don't know. She's been like this since we got here," James replied quietly. He honestly wasn't sure of what was wrong with Lily. He was a bit nervous – wondering if something was wrong.

"So what do I do?" James asked after a moment of staring at Lily. "How do I go and lead practice – as Captain and Seeker – if I'm attached to Evans?"

"I don't know, mate," Remus said as he watched the Great Hall dwindle down to the last twenty or so people. "You can ask if she'll go with you – you never know. It is a bit important though. You have to play in Wednesday's game no matter what – and if she's on the back of your broom as you Seek – well, it might be nice to get the practice in."

James thought about it for a moment. It seemed like the only logical resource for his dilemma.

"Thanks, Moony," James said, beginning to stand up. "Evans?" he whispered when Lily wasn't budging. "Lily," he said, poking her softly in the arm. "Lily, c'mon."

Lily noticed James was talking to her and stood up with a small nod, ready to follow him. If only she could get her own problem out of her head, she would realize what new problem she was about to face.

* * *

"Evans? Evans, are you listening to me?" 

"Huh?"

"Evans, are you paying attention?" James asked, looking deep into Lily's bleary eyes (that were so out of this world in thought at the moment).

"Er – no, sorry James," she replied lamely, tucking her hair behind her ear and regaining awareness. "I'm sorry, I'm listening now."

"I said I have Quidditch practice in ten minutes. Will you play along with me?"

"Will I WHAT?" Lily asked, blinking to make sure she had heard him right.

"I need you to fly with me. I have to coach this team – and play as well. I need you to get on the broom with me," James said.

They were the only two people in the Gryffindor locker rooms. James was standing in his boxers, changing into his uniform as he ran the plan by Lily first.

"Why would I do that?" she asked as she watched James pull up his pants.

"Because of this," he said, indicating their hands.

"Oh - yeah."

"So will you cooperate with me?"

"Yeah, I suppose so."

"Okay, thanks, Lily," James said as he pulled on his maroon robes, the name 'POTTER' flashing on his back when the sunlight hit it.

"Uh-huh."

"Alright, we're meeting the team out on the pitch," James said as he was finally dressed and ready for practice. "So when everyone mounts their brooms, you're gonna hafta get on behind me, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Lily said, hearing him and understanding him, but in a far off distant place.

"Alright, then lets head out to the pitch," he said, shouldering his broomstick and carrying the box of Quidditch balls as they headed out to the pitch.

* * *

"Okay, we're practicing same moves as last Tuesday guys, so this is pretty simple. Just play your best and get as much practicing and new-move-playing in as possible," James said to his team as they all stood waiting beside their brooms, tactfully ignoring the person attached to his hand. 

"Alright," James continued, "mount your brooms and let's start playing. Kapson – could you please get the quaffle out and a bludger? I'll take care of the snitch."

Kapson – one of the Beaters – nodded his head and released a bludger and removed the quaffle as his teammates rose quickly into the air to play.

"C'mon, Evans," James whispered in Lily's ear. "Let's get up in the air."

Lily climbed up on James's broom behind him and wrapped her free hand around his waist, sending tingles up his spine. She was too focused in her own thoughts to actually care about flying behind James as he played a sport – dangerous, at that – with her in plain view of attack.

As James kicked off and soared around the sky looking for the snitch and calling suggestions to his teammates, Lily focused on one thought in her mind: James Potter.

Sure, is she was going to focus on James Potter her better bet would be to gaze dreamily at him and ruffle his hair and think of him – exposed – like many of the jealous girls in the stands were doing at that moment, but she wasn't actually thinking of James Potter, she was thinking of him in general.

Lily had decided that she'd take pity on him and spent an entire night tossing and turning, always ending up with her eyes fixed on the top of her canopy, thinking of James Potter and how he was acting so different lately. Then she finds herself the next day, glued to his hand for the whole school to see and debating if she liked him.

Lily had awoken in the night and found herself face-to-face with a sleeping James and – much to her disgust – she smiled at him and went back to sleep, not thinking of the rest of the dorm or anyone or anything that could interrupt them. She had been very aware of finding her free hand atop his in the middle of the night and though it looked suspicious, she didn't remove her hand. Lily was at a complete loss for ideas and for once in her life she was lost and didn't know what to do at all.

She had been hoping that Professor Dumbledore could help them, but, like he said, they were to face the problems and get to know each other – possibly even grow on each other – on their own with no help at all for the two weeks.

What bugged Lily even more was knowing that this was what was going to happen to her for two whole weeks. Spending her days with her eyes glazed over, thinking of how the Merlin she'd let this happen was not her favorite time-passer.

If she wanted to branch out to the thing seriously biting at her mind, was knowing in all truths that she had failed herself. She knew deep down she was starting to like James Potter and felt that he had no right to make her do such things. But, remembering with a pang of anger, he wasn't making her fall in love with him – she was doing it on her own. And what drove her to the thought of jumping off the Astronomy tower, was knowing that she was only attached to James for less than 24 hours and already she felt like kissing him. If this was supposed to happen (and she had a feeling that Dumbledore wanted it to happen), it shouldn't get to happen till at least the last week. She should be allowed the courtesy of hating Potter and making him suffer like she was for a week before coming to the conclusion that he was sweet enough to date.

But no, life wasn't giving her that idea of bliss and happiness. No, it was making sure that she was falling in love right now, right this minute and the boy who was chasing after a snitch up and down the Quidditch pitch was the one for her and only her.

Lily had been lost in these thoughts the entire day and she was begging something to happen to make her hate James again. She even became aware that she was calling him 'James' instead of 'Potter' which bugged her immensely.

She let out a sigh as James whooped in triumph over catching the snitch in less than fifteen minutes. He grinned back at her so she returned his grin with a feeble smile.

She couldn't get James out of her head, no matter how much she tried and being stuck to him for two weeks with no escape for girl talk or advice was going to make it much harder.

* * *

**From your humble author:**

Hey guys, I seriously hope you're enjoying this. I'm so excited to be writing this. I'm expecting a good number of chapters, so stay tuned. Please remember that it's just going to get better and better – even if there is a dry spot.

I've written many Fan-Fics but this one is by far my favorite. And I'm sure some of you just jumped back to my profile page to see what else I had posted, but found that there aren't many other things posted – if any. That's because I've found some of them extremely drab and just the practice run before the best of the best (cough this cough). Please read and review and I'll – of course – keep dishing out the story for you, chapter by chapter.

Your Humble Author


	7. A Major Dilemma

Chapter Seven – A Major Dilemma

* * *

"HOW does this keep happening to us?" 

"I don't know."

"This is IMPOSSIBLE."

"Actually, no its-"

"Shut UP, Potter."

"Don't shut up that much, Potter."

"You told me to shut up."

"We need suggestions all the same!"

"Oh, okay."

"Now… what are we going to do about it?"

"Well… we could just take it together, that way-"

"That's out of the question, Potter."

"Well, you wanted suggestions!"

"Yes, but we are not going to SHOWER TOGETHER!"

"Oh."

"Yes, 'oh'."

"Well why not?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Shut up Potter or you won't have YOUR ANATOMY IN TACT!"

"I'm rather fond of my balls, thank you."

"Then I advise you think of a G-Rated plan to get us OUT of this mess!"

Lily and James stood in the boys' dormitory bathroom – James slathered in mud, Lily with sprays of it in her hair - staring at the shower with utter repulsion at the idea of showering together. Well, Lily was repulsed at the idea – James was a bit intrigued a curious at the same time.

"I've got it!" Lily exclaimed after a minute or so of thinking.

"Yes?" James asked, his mind still elsewhere in dirty-boy-mind-land.

Lily walked up to the shower, a large one (that could easily fit the five roommates at once) with tile floors and white window block walls. James followed, temporarily forgetting his visit to dirty-boy-mind-land.

"Okay," Lily said, waving her wand. A large screen five feet tall and six feet long appeared in the shower, dividing it in half.

"One of us," she continued, "will shower – while the other one is on the other side of the screen – turned – around," she said with a glare as if reading James's mind. "When one of us is done we can dry off and get dressed, then turn around and wait for the other to shower."

"Good?" Lily asked after a minute of silent appraisal to her own plan.

"Yes, good," James stated, looking anxiously around. "But – uh – what do we – um – do if we – um – gotta – gotta – um – gotta piss?" he asked, crossing his legs and looking longingly at the toilet. "Like now?" he nearly whispered.

True, neither of them had used the bathroom since being attached at the hand and dinner was nearing and they both really had to pee.

"I – uh – um – I don't know!" Lily exclaimed, watching James rock back and forth.

"Too late!" James nearly screamed, running for the toilet and unzipping his pants.

With a frightened squeal, Lily turned away and covered her eyes as James stood up and peed.

After a minute James let out a happy sigh and zipped his pants back up. "Did you enjoy that as much as I did?" he asked jokingly as Lily scolded him for giving her no warning.

"You could have let me turn around with some TIME first before you did that!" she exclaimed now aware that she really had to pee too.

"Well I really had to pee, so I was in a bit of a rush," he said icily, glaring at her with a glint of a smile in his eyes.

"Well what about me, then?" she asked, looking around. "What if I have to pee?"

"Be my guest," he said, holding the stall door open for her.

Lily glared at him for his stupidity. "It's not that easy for me," she hissed. "Girls can't do it like you can."

James snickered at the idea but shut up when she shot him an evil look.

"Well," he said, "if you don't mind your hand being stretched out, you can use the loo while I hang around outside the stall, our arms stretching through the distance.

"Fine," Lily snapped, desperate to use the loo before she popped like James.

A very uncomfortable amount of time passed as they both used the loo and took showers. Many throats were cleared and feet were shuffled, eyes averted many a time too. After much embarrassment they decided to skip dinner and climb into bed before James's fellow Marauders came back from dinner. Snuggling down in bed, Lily had a brief flashback to the night before. She sighed and rolled over, facing James's back. There was no way – no way at all – she would let that happen again.

* * *

But once again Lily was wrong. 

Monday morning found Lily lying on her stomach, her arm draped over James's bare chest, snoring softly into his pillow, her hair mussed up and frizzy around the pillow and the sheets tangled tightly around her.

And James didn't look so good either: his hair was stuck up in even more odd angles and he slept with a moronic grin on his face – something in his dreams obviously pleased him – his arm stretched out on Lily's back – palm down – and the sheets laying loosely on his waist down, as if the remnants of Lily's bundle was good enough for him.

Remus, being the good friend he was, saw this and immediately got up to close James's bed hangings so they could have some privacy and be away from the keen looking eyes – a.k.a. Sirius and Peter.

This time Lily was first to wake up. She was also first to take into action their position in bed.

Yawning, she ran her hand down James's chest to wake him up and mumbled "good morning" when he opened his eyes. Lily rolled over next to him – still on her stomach – so their skin was touching, still – apparently – unaware of what she was doing. Hand still on his chest, she asked, "Did you sleep well?"

"Fine thanks," James mumbled back, running his own hand down her spine and pushing a lock of her hair out of her eyes. "You?"

"Better than I've slept in years for some reason."

James was aware of her skin touching his – her hand on his chest and the side of her body pressed into formation with his. He smiled, feeling that he was right all along – this was exactly what he wanted with Lily Evans. He wanted to wake up with her beside him every morning, kiss her every second and feel her move next to him, always knowing she was near him.

Lily snuggled her face into James's neck, reluctant to wake up. With a grin, James thought this was really happening: maybe Lily was in love with him after all.

But with a jolt that dream was quashed too. Lily's eyes snapped open in alarm and pulled herself away from James who was running his hand up and down her back as fast as she could.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I – uh – well – I – I – um – I'm sorry!" she stammered, jolting up in the bed and grabbing her clothes to change into.

James looked more than a bit crestfallen at the change in pace but stood up none the less and grabbed his own clothes to change into.

"Yeah, sure," he mumbled.

The day was going to be very long indeed.

* * *

James and Lily went through the day attached at the hand, sitting next to each other in every class and being paired up together in every class, listening to ribbing from the Marauders and Lily's friends together, threatening to hex of valuable parts and blow up favorite articles of clothing if they didn't shut up together… those kind of things. It was a very interesting day. Each teacher noticed how Evans and Potter were holding hands and smirked at the idea… but when they never stopped and kept on holding hands every second of their classes they grew curious. They sent a quick owl to Dumbledore, asking what was going on, and he sent one back explaining every detail under the sun for the Professors, all making them smile even more at the two students' luck. 

Professor McGonagall was ecstatic at the idea that they were joined, finally glad that James would have to miss out on the pranks pulled in her class due to being attached to Lily.

Professor Binns took no notice of the pair so he was indifferent to the subject and Professor Sinistra quirked his brow at the pair but said no more. Professor Winston – their D.A.D.A. teacher – examined their hands with interest but went on teaching the lesson none the less.

Professor Flitwick merrily looked at the two and assigned them partners to work on silent Hover Charms together. But none was happier than Professor Slughorn when he saw the pair together after lunch.

"Excellent! Excellent! My two brightest pupils together at last!" he exclaimed as he saw them trudge into the dungeons for Potions holding hands.

"Oh, sorry, Professor," Lily said, looking Slughorn in the eye, "we're not together… we're just – together," she said lamely, indicating their hands.

"I see," he said wisely, and, like every other Professor that noticed, plucked up their hands to examine it.

"Very nice potion work, I see, the brewer made sure to get it all precise. You're lucky too – if this potion went awry you could have lost your hands all together. Now please take your seats, open to page 389, and begin work together," he said, passing by the couple and towards his own house to greet some of the many students.

The two set to work silently wondering how much of this they would have to endure before the potion finally wore off.

* * *

**Guess who?**

Hi guys! Okay, I finally have Chapter Seven done and I'm more than a bit pleased with it! I was, however, caught in the writing of it which put me in a very sticky predicament, trying to talk my way out of it and convince my brother (who caught me) that this story was NOT dirty. LOL.

I hope you all liked it… the dirty-boy-mind-land is so true, by the way. I have a lot of guy friends (whether my friends know them or not) and the second you say something – even the word "paper" – they crack up laughing with their sick minds it makes us all know what they're thinking about. Unfortunately that trait has worn off to your loyal author… but if anything it just makes the story better!

Please read and review! Next chapter soon to come… like, in a millisecond.

-Your Author


	8. The Wanker is a Pro at Whining

Chapter Eight – The Wanker is a Pro at Whining

* * *

Lily stood at the portrait hole, tapping her foot impatiently as James conversed in whispered voices with his fellow Marauders.

"Lets – get – going – James!" she hissed after a minute of impatient foot-tapping.

"Yes, ma'am," James called, bending low into a mock bow as he walked in front of Lily, still bowing.

"You arrogant prat," Lily spat, kicking him in the arse with her shoe.

"Oh," James said as he raised his eyebrows, seemingly not disturbed by the recent arse-kicking. "You wanna get kinky with me, Evans?"

Lily's eyes narrowed into an icy glare. "Don't even think it," she growled menacingly, beginning to stride towards the Charms corridor for her prefect duties.

"Well, Evans," James continued smoothly, falling into pace with her, "you really can't stop me thinking _dirty _thoughts because, one: there is no way you can control my mind; two: I'm a guy and that's just natural; and three: you know you secretly think them too."

"You little wanker!" Lily hissed at him, pressing him up against a wall, her hand tightening on his shirt collar.

"Yes, I know," James said mischievously.

With an aggravated – but muffled – scream, Lily set off walking again with a quickened pace.

She had received orders from the Head Boy and Girl that she was to patrol the Charms corridor and the D.A.D.A corridor for an hour that night as her prefect duty. She had been more than happy to do it – until she remembered Potter was glued to her hand.

The year was nearly over – only three weeks left to be exact. The exams would be starting in two days, which would carry on for a week and leave the remaining time to freedom – or in Lily's case – a death sentence.

Lily slowed down as she came to her stop near the Charms classroom and leaned up against the wall, telling herself to breathe in and out slowly, attempting to forget about James. Within seconds, Lily had slid down the length of the wall and was sitting on the stone floor, sighing, looking up and down the hall to make sure no students were out of bed and no guilty students were out for a late night snogging session. With a confident mind, she closed her eyes and focused on relaxing. But, of course, that wasn't possible with James Potter around.

"I don't see why I had to come with you," he states with a ring of impatience in his voice.

"No, really?" Lily asks sarcastically, glaring at their entwined hands.

"Yes, really," James continues, seemingly oblivious to her sarcasm. "I mean, these are YOUR prefect duties; not mine. Why didn't you get attached to Remus? I mean, HE has to do the same duties as you – just different corridors – so you could have caught two snitches with one seeker if you had just done that." James paused in concentration as he thought of what to say next.

Lily, although thoroughly ticked at James, felt her heart be pierced with a flaming arrow at James's words. Her breath caught in her throat and her heart skipped a couple beats, but not because she was happy with his words or lost in the beautiful hazel color of his eyes; no, it was because what he said made her worry. What he said hurt her.

Was James just trying to wriggle his way out of uncomfortable feelings and thoughts after what had happened that morning? Was he trying to push Lily farther away after she had pushed him away? Did he want to convince her that he didn't like her to save his own heart from being torn to shreds? Was he trying to protect himself whilst hurting Lily in the process? Or, Lily thought as her heart fell like a bruised banana to the bottom of her stomach, did he really not like her?

Lily gulped and waited to hear what he had to say.

"Don't get me wrong though," he said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "I absolutely love being attached to you and all – even if it does mean I have to use silent spells all over the place 'cause I can't use my wand. But," James said, snuggling closer to Lily, "I think it's all worth it, considering I have _the _most beautiful girl in the world permanently attached to me," he finished with a smirk.

Even though the words were supposed to be comforting to Lily, they seemed to sting a bit more than his earlier ones. Stashing the thought in the back of her head for over-analyzation later, she brushed right past his statement.

"Let's go, Potter," she said curtly, standing up and brushing off her robes. "We have to finish the patrol before the wanker whines his eyes out."

"Who's the wanker?" James asked as his arm was tugged rather rudely in the opposite direction.

"You."

As Lily kept walking the distinct thoughts of "the wanker is a pro at whining" ran through her head, clearly stating that the wanker was James.

* * *

An hour later Lily sat in a ball in the boys' dormitory (as James did his homework) feeling like the biggest arse on the planet. No, it wasn't because she had called James a wanker and no it had nothing to do with what she'd said to him or anyone else. It had nothing to do with actions – or so she was almost sure of – but it left her feeling like the biggest arse, no matter how much she tried to bang the thought out of her head.

She sat there, thinking of everything she had done in the past six years and realized, that, for almost the last two, she had been a selfish little brat.

_Was he trying to push Lily farther away after she had pushed him away? Did he want to convince her that he didn't like her to save his own heart from being torn to shreds?_

Lily's previous thoughts echoed in her head with a slight chill. She felt so bad thinking them… knowing that they weren't true. At least they weren't true for James….

Lily pushed him away, declaring that she would rather date the giant squid than him; she pushed him away, telling him she would never date him and she hated him, wanting him to die; she pushed him away and kept convincing herself – rather perfectly – that she hated James Potter – all in her selfish attitude to save herself. She didn't want her heart torn to shreds, she didn't want to give it to Potter who would wave it like the Quidditch star he was as if her heart was his trophy, then get bored with it and toss it aside and find another one. She really didn't want to get hurt, but she was growing more and more positive she had been egotistical.

With a sigh Lily got up and changed into her pajamas in their typical fashion and crawled into James's bed, rolling over and sighing into the pillow. She really wasn't sure what was going to happen but she was praying to have a second chance to make it better after she buggered it all up. She was just positive that something would go wrong and for once in her life it'd be she making the mistake – not Potter.

* * *

"_Potter and Evans sittin' in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a marauder in the baby carriage!_"

"Will you STOP IT already, Sirius?"

"Oh, sorry, Evans, I know how much you hate hearing about your future marauder son."

Lily glowered at him as she finished up her potions essay. She was quite sick of Sirius singing that _stupid song _over and over again at the top of his lungs. It seemed to Lily that James was rather enjoying it – fantasizing about his future marauder son and being able to K-I-S-S Lily in a tree, and, well, in dirty-boy-mind-land, he was thinking of what he'd get to do in order to have a son with Evans. His cheeks blushed a shade of fuchsia as she looked at him quizzically. He really didn't want Evans knowing what he was thinking – she'd fly through the roof and hex him to China if she did.

Lily and the marauders were sitting up in the boys' dormitory, Sirius hunting for old food from under his bed like a dog, Remus reading _Hogwarts, a History _from his spot on his bed, Peter looking oddly pathetic as he poked at the holes in his jumped and James sketching out Quidditch tactics for the game on Wednesday – day after tomorrow.

True, that was the final match of the season – the match to determine who got the Quidditch Cup. Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw wasn't going to be the hardest game to beat, but James was vaguely aware that a certain someone might be a teensy bit of a problem when it came to playing. James was known for doing loop-de-loops around the pitch and making nose dives at random moments, even pulling a couple Wronski Feints every now and again to confuse the opposing teams. But that was easy for James; he knew what he was going to do: it clicked in his mind before he actually did it and he was off on a great new something-or-other. But Lily might be a problem. She wouldn't know if James went shooting off in a nose dive and she'd most likely scream bloody murder if James decided to Feint. She was more than a problem, actually: she was an inconvenience.

Not that James didn't like being attached to Lily; he really liked having her less then two feet away at all moments of the day, even if he did want to talk to his fellow marauders from time to time. James was ecstatic at the idea of Lily sleeping next to him every night and was thrilled with every passing morning when he woke up to find himself looking at Lily, and sometimes to find her beautiful green eyes looking into his. James enjoyed it so much he really didn't want the two weeks to end when two weeks came and went. If anything he was more depressed at the idea that there was no time for anything to happen, seeing as the year was about to end and release for summer. He'd have no time to see Lily or meet up with her or even talk to her and hear her pretty voice: his summer would be a disaster.

James was positive his summer would be a disaster. Well, why wouldn't it? He'd spend two glorious weeks next to a beautiful woman, learning her traits and talking to her, and then he'd have to dash off and never see her again. Well, that was over-dramatizing it a bit. He'd see her at the beginning of his seventh – and with a pang he remembered final – year at Hogwarts.

But James didn't have much time to dwell on things…

"_Potter and Evans, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a maraud – _OUCH!"

Lily threw a pillow at Sirius's head.


	9. Absolutely Nothing

Chapter Nine – Absolutely Nothing

* * *

James had Lily pressed up against a wall in the middle of his steamy dorm. They were alone with the door closed and locked, every window foggy. James was distinctly aware of his raging hormones and he was praying more than anything that Lily had the same. Well, not the _exact _anatomy with hormones – but the same hormones for him. He was breathing rather deeply, as if he had just finished a two hour long Quidditch practice and was very aware of his close proximity to Lily. 

He took in the smell of Lily's hair as he kissed her neck with a nibble.

"James," Lily mumbled, putting her hands on his chest.

"Mm?" he asked, still preoccupied with the kissing.

"Forget it," Lily murmured as James began to kiss her ear and her cheek, then right down to full-on snogging.

Having his arms wrapped around Lily's waist and her arms around his neck he wasn't all that aware that he was still in the dorm. He felt as if years had slipped away and he and Lily were shagging like romping animals in their apartment, days after graduating from Hogwarts. As if he couldn't press her up against the wall more, James pushed Lily back into the wall and continued to kiss her like his life depended on it.

"Mm, Lily, you are so beautiful," James whispered as his hand slipped up her shirt.

"I love you, James," she whispered in his ear as he continued to nibble her neck.

"I love you, too, Lily," he whispered back, feeling as if he was getting luckier and luckier with every passing moment.

"Wanna go in the bathroom?" she asked after much snogging.

"Mmmm, kinky," James stated, thinking of what dirty thoughts were only to be mentioned in dirty-boy-mind-land.

As they began an odd kissing/walking/press up against air movement, James felt his hormones surge more than ever.

"Sod it," Lily said after they rammed into another bedpost. "Let's move to the bed, James," she whispered, stepping back in the direction of his bed.

James picked her up 'round the waist and put her on the bed, straddling her and beginning to kiss her slowly and softly, then quicker and harder.

"James?" a voice asked.

"Bugger off, Padfoot, I'm busy," James murmured from his place behind Lily's tonsils.

"No – but, Prongs," Sirius protested.

"Cant you see I'm busy, Pads?" James asked, agitated, attempting to keep the mood between him and Lily.

"Prongs, I really think you should stop that now."

"Honestly, James, its starting to freak me out," he heard Lily's voice say.

"Wha?" he asked stupidly, looking at her. "Don't you like it?"

"I don't know what there's to like – but you're definitely freaking me out."

"Prongs," Sirius said again. "Prongs – wake up."

James blinked at the voices.

"Prongs," Sirius protested. "Prongs – wake up – you're dreaming. Wake up, Prongs, wake up."

James opened his eyes to see Sirius standing over him, looking at him worriedly.

"I was a bit busy, Pads," James said with a snap, glancing down, expecting to find Lily beneath him. He blinked, and did a double-take. Lily wasn't below him – a pillow was below him.

"Busy snogging your pillow?" Sirius asked, completely not getting the point.

James blushed a deep shade of red and turned around to see Lily, her head propped in her hands, staying up on her elbows.

"Are you okay, James?" she asked, putting a hand delicately on his shoulder. Her touch brought back itching memories of his dream, telling him to pull his covers up to his chin as fast as possible before anything – er – happened.

"Fine, thanks," he replied sheepishly, wondering what noises they'd heard and what actions they'd seen.

"Are you sure?" she asked, looking at him with concern. "You were mumbling a lot of things."

James's embarrassment meter climbed as he worried about what he'd possibly said.

"What'd I say?" he asked nervously, afraid to hear the details.

"Well…" Sirius said. "I'm not sure. You were just saying a lot of things real quiet, into your pillow and all."

James looked over at Lily for confirmation; she nodded her head.

"Uh… yeah," James said before any more questions could be asked. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a dream I was having."

"Oooooooh," Sirius said, getting it – or his own dirty version of it – with a raise of his eyebrows. "Kinky."

"Shut it, Sirius," James hissed, not wanting news of his dream out and about – especially when Lily was around.

"Who was it this time, mate?" he asked, ignoring James's hiss.

"No one," James growled, shooting him an evil glare.

Lily looked at him quizzically, wondering what was going on.

Sirius's eyes darted between James and Lily and with an "Oooooooh" and a very large wink, walked out of the dormitory to leave James to his blushing.

"What was that about?" Lily asked as the door closed, leaving them alone.

"Uh… nothing," James said a bit too quickly as he rummaged around in his trunk for his school robes.

"Oh yes it was something," Lily said, getting up and leaning against the wall as James pulled out his socks.

James glanced up at her, but quickly redirected his gaze: her position was too much like that in his dream.

James kept himself busy with rearranging the books in his trunk to keep himself from looking at Lily. But all too suddenly he felt her hand on his knee and her presence right beside him. He turned to look at her, wondering when she'd come to be next to him.

"James," Lily said softly as she crouched next to him, "what's wrong?"

"Nothings wrong," James stated again. And it _was _the truth. Nothing was wrong, he was just really, REALLY, _really _embarrassed.

"James," she nearly whispered, looking him in the eye. "Is there something you want to tell me?" After a moment or two of his silence, she said, "Anything at all; I'll listen, James."

He was more than touched at her words and wanted more than anything to roll over in bed and return to his boy-ish dream he was having. But having Lily next to him was a good compromise.

It wasn't until he glanced up from the pile of clothes in his lap did he realize that Lily's nose was mere inches away from his own. He could see her eyes swim with curiosity and concern for James. He could feel her breath on his lips when she exhaled… he wanted more than anything just to touch her.

Lily was also very much aware of how close she had put herself to James. She could see his hazel eyes and the strands of his black hair dangling loosely on his forehead. She could feel the heat emit from his body, he was so close to her. Lily was barely aware of titling her head to the right, still looking at James.

James smiled a cocky grin at Lily, so overwhelmed with happiness. He tilted his head to the left as he looked deep in her eyes, able to see her black eyelashes blink with the same happiness. He was moving closer to Lily; she was moving closer to him. Barely an inch could fit between their lips.

The pair closed their eyes, lost in an empty world, about to kiss, ready – more than anything – to kiss.

"Hey guys, when're you coming down to breakfast?"

Sirius appeared at the door, flinging it open with gusto as he looked at the two, waiting for their response.

Lily's head snapped to Sirius, a bit aggravated but relieved at the interruption. What was she thinking, kissing James Potter?

"Eh?" he asked, still waiting.

"We'll be down in a bit, Black," Lily said sharply, standing up to get ready.

"Yeah," James mumbled. "We'll be down in a bit. Go on without us."

As soon as the door closed, Lily wrung her hands together to begin her apology.

"I'm so sorry, James, I really don't know what came over me," she said, her eyes begging for forgiveness.

"You're sorry?" he asked blankly.

"Yes, I'm really, _really _sorry! I didn't mean for that to happen! That – uh – well, at least it didn't happen, right?" she asked softly, not looking at him.

"I was rather hoping it would happen," James grumbled quietly.

"What?" she asked, not hearing what he said.

"Nothing," James stated. "It was absolutely nothing."

* * *

James wanted more than anything in the world to just be alone at that moment. He didn't want to face the chattering happy crowds of the students in his classes, he didn't want to talk to his over-eager fellow marauders, he didn't want to look at the stern teachers handing out homework, he didn't want to look at the merry couples, kissing and holding hands in the hall, but worst of all – he didn't want to look at Lily. 

She was aware that he was avoiding her – if you could call it that, seeing as they couldn't really stay out of each other's ways. She had told him she was sorry that that kiss almost happened, but, really, she wanted to ring Sirius's neck and scream at him for having the worst timing ever known to wizard-kind.

James was pretty much in the same boat, wanting to rip off the one part making Sirius male. He wanted to make sure that bloke never got a chance to reproduce. He was so ticked at Sirius for ruining his almost-kiss with Lily, he was even going to the lengths to not talk to him. And even though Lily – secretly – wanted to kiss James, her words were still ringing through his ears like an incessant, annoying, terribly rude school bell. He had been _so happy _knowing that things might happen between him, so happy knowing that he was finally going to get his chance to kiss Lily after six years of waiting… and then... it didn't happen. If that didn't break your heart and grind it to confetti, he really didn't know what did.

If only James could just sneak away with one of Sirius's bottles of Firewiskey and mope about his problems, things just might brighten up. But, knowing how protective of his Firewiskey Sirius was – James knew that was never going to happen.


	10. The Conscience Talks

**Author's Note: **This chapter is a flashback (I'll make that clear to everyone) and it is also a – kinda – conversation in Lily's mind. It's a bit hard to understand, but if you read at the right pace its easier.

* * *

Chapter Ten - The Conscience Talks

* * *

**FLASHBACK**

Lily Evans stretched out on her bed in the girls' dormitory, letting her head fall off the foot of it, dangling dangerously close to her trunk. Her feet slid up and down the wall behind her headboard, obviously bored and lost in thought. With a yawn she stretched her arms out over (well, under, considering her position) her head and closed her eyes, already conversing with her conscience.

I cannot believe that toerag.

_What'd he do this time?_

Always bullying Snape in the halls, always mussing up his hair, always playing with that bloody snitch – even though the world knows he's a chaser – every stupid thing he does. He's such an arse.

_You didn't always have that opinion of him you know._

Oh? Says who?

_Says you._

I'm not saying that.

_True, but I am – and I'm your conscience so it basically counts as you._

My conscience is supposed to help me through problems and discuss the rights and wrongs of my ways – not confuse me.

_Well maybe confusion is all part of the plan to get you to see the rights and wrongs of your ways. Maybe its all an evil plan to make you over-think things and think too far into things that need to be thunk so you'll just – forget it all – then focus on your rights and wrongs and forget about the confusing plan. Maybe _that _is the plan! To confuse you to extremes and make you forget so you can focus on other things!_

What the _hell _have you been smoking?

_Uh… nothing._

Right.

_So… we were discussing the toerag, were we not?_

Correct. We were discussing Potter.

_And how would you like to discuss Potter today?_

Oh, please, don't pull that. Do not put on those ridiculous glasses and pull out the parchment and quills and ink and go all therapist on me. Don't do that – please don't.

_And what's so wrong with the glasses?_

They don't match your eyes.

_Well that's stupid. I mean, who would make glasses that don't match your eyes? What's the point of having glasses if they don't match your eyes? Why do they even _have _to match your eyes? Why? Tell me that, Lily, why do they have to match your eyes? What's so wrong with them if they _don't _match your eyes, huh? What's so wrong with them? Can you earn a detention or something from having glasses that don't match your eyes? Is it a _crime _to have glasses that don't match your eyes? Is it? Is it, is it, huh?_

I'm going to scoot away now.

_Yes, you had better scoot away. Scoot away for your own safety! Do not think of Potter or the confusing plan! Do not insult my glasses!_

I think I might go see Madam Pomfrey.

_Don't – you – dare._

And why not?

_Because you have your own adorable psychologist right here._

I think my psychologist needs a psychologist.

_How dare you insult your psychologist!_

I'm insulting myself, so I can do as I please, when I please.

_Yes, well, back to Potter, shall we?_

What about Potter?

_See what I mean? This confusion thing really works. Maybe I should write a book about it. Oh! It'd be a great book! It'd have so much in it about how to work it and about special cases and what happens when the plan backfires! Oh! This'll be great! I can title it… er… I can name it… er… uh… name it… I can name it… _The Key to Psychology: Confusion. _That's a perfect title! It's marvelous. So I can open the page with "So you're a conscience, right? Do you need a way of working out the problems? Well you've found the right answer! Right here in this book! It's the key to –_

Not that I don't mind your ramblings, but can we get back to me?

_Well scratch that entire confusion idea. It obviously didn't work on you._

I have no idea what you're talking about.

_Never mind, it does work._

What works?

_Hush. Now tell me about Potter._

Oh. Okay. Well… he's this tall bloke with shaggy black hair that's always in his face. He plays Chaser on the Quidditch team – although he always plays with a snitch and he sometimes fills for the Seeker when she's sick. He's got these gorgeous hazel eyes and he excels in almost every class we take. He's marvelous at Transfiguration, and he's… he's…

_So what's the problem?_

Have I mentioned that I hate him?

_Uh… let me check my records. One sec... Yes, you have mentioned that. You've mentioned it… 18, 30, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63… nuh, nuh, nuh… 105, 106, 107… nuh, nuh, nuh… 498, 499, 500, 501, nuh… nuh... nuh… 1002, 1003, 1004 –_

Okay, okay, I get it!

_6056, 6057, 6058 – _

Will you shut up! I bloody get that I've said I've hated him a zillion times already!

_Then honestly where are we going with this?_

It's just – Potter's shaped up a lot since that thing after the OWLs… and… well… now that he's starting to, well, _grow up_ a bit; he's becoming a bit more…

_Devilishly handsome?_

A bit more likeable.

_Devilishly handsome?_

No.

_What about… devilishly handsome?_

No.

_Oh! I know! Devilishly handsome…_

No.

_How about… devilishly handsome?_

What is your obsession with Potter and "devilishly handsome"?

_Well… technically it's your obsession… I'm just reading your thoughts. Truth is – you think he's _devilishly handsome.

I do not!

_Yes, you do!_

Can we just focus on the problem?

_Oh, sorry hon. I didn't realize there was a problem at hand._

What on earth did you think I was rambling on about then?

_Oh, like every other girl… just thinking about Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter._

Are you done?

_Almost. Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter._

Now?

_Yes, now I'm done._

So… what were we saying? I was a bit too busy ignoring you.

_I believe we were discussing "the problem."_

Oh, yes.

_Sooooo…_

You're my conscience. You're supposed to point me in the right "direction."

_So I am…_

So… when're you going to tell me what to do?

_See, I didn't really pay attention in that class when I was studying to become a conscience._

You didn't pay attention?

_No, not really. I was passing notes with this super cute conscience. I forget what his name was…_

We're talking about me and Potter.

_That was it! His last name was Potter. Boy was he cute._

Listen, when are we going to focus on the BLOODY PROBLEM?

_I haven't the faintest idea._

Then I'll ramble a bit for you… James Potter is an arrogant bullying toerag who only wants me because he can't have me. All the other sodding girls at Hogwarts and in Gryffindor – Slytherin too – want to get their little hands on him. But he wont let them because he claims to be "in love" with me. So the problem… the problem is…

_Hahaha. You can't find a problem to dating James Potter._

Yes I can!

_Then what is that problem, missy?_

It's… its… it's… oh sod it! He's rude! That's why!

_From my observations he's rather nice. _

_Do you _want_ a slap upside the head?_

_No, not particularly._

Then I suggest you shut it.

_So where've we been going with this. The past half hour we've been talking about James Potter but we never actually did reach a conclusion, just that your head is about as read as your hair._

When did we meet that conclusion?

_Oh, sorry, I noticed it about ten minutes ago. You've been hanging off the edge of the bed too long._

Well that's right nice of you to tell me.

_Okay, we're going to get down to business. NOW. James Potter. Why can you not date him?_

There isn't a reason for why I can't date him… it's just because I don't want to. He's rude and arrogant and he isn't my type.

_Right._

Listen, something drastic'll have to happen before I find myself in love with Potter – and dating him.

**END OF FLASHBACK**

* * *

**Author's Ramblings:**

Hey guys. As you might have noticed there was a slight change. I mentioned before in another chapter that James was Seeker for Gryffindor. But, I was reading up on some interverviews with JKR yesterday and she "commented and confirmed" that James was Chaser - not Seeker. So I had to make that slight change in the story. Sorry for any confusion.

And speaking of confusion, I hope this chapter wasn't too hectic for you to read. Its a bit crazy, yes, I know, but interesting all the same. It reminds me a bit of how my friends cheer me and my other friends up. Crazy, phsyco and crazy some more.

Please Review! Please and Thank you!


	11. Um, Whoops?

**Author's Note**: Sorry it's taken so long to post… not that I have a million fans or anything cough, cough … but all the same I apologize! I had some extreme forgetfulness, an Algebra test to study for and 200 something problems to do for homework so sue me. Actually, please don't. Oh and there were some technical difficulties thrown in there as well. On with the story then…

**Chapter Eleven – Um … Whoops?**

Sirius normally liked being backed up against walls. He didn't mind being pressed against them and feel their icy solidness touch his skin. He didn't really care if when he walked away it looked like he'd made out with the wall (chances are he probably nearly did). Bottom line was he liked the wall. He didn't hate the wall.

Now, granted, normally he liked to be pressing a _girl _against the wall, not the other way around. And he also liked a heavy snogging and groping session to follow the pressing against the wall. He had no objections to touching and fierce eyes and fingers poking places and a girl in such close proximity to him. He honestly didn't. He liked it all … maybe a bit too much in some people's minds … but still.

But right now Sirius Black did _not _like the wall. Nor did he like the girl of who was pressing him against the wall. He did _not _like the situation he was in. Not at all. Not a teeny tiny sodding drop of it.

Lynelle was pretty, sure, but when she was pissed she really did not look that kind.

So, fellow reader, you might ask what situation Sirius was in (if you haven't already guessed). Well, I'll tell you.

Being cornered after dinner wasn't fun, especially when Sirius felt extremely bloated from eating way too many pumpkin pasties. But, somehow, Lynelle had crept up behind him as he left the Great Hall and yanked him into the broom closet, ready to give him a piece of her mind. She had shoved him up against the wall of the broom closet, just one candle floating in the air to keep the image of her scary face in his memory forever. Of course, this was the cat fight that every girl began when another girl got that one girl's "Man." Ah, yes, the glorious cat-fight. Which was only made worse by witchcraft.

"You said he _liked _me," Lynelle snarled, stabbing a manicured nail into Sirius's chest.

"It was an accident, Lynelle," Sirius exclaimed, attempting to wriggle out of his spot squished against the wall. "Honestly, I didn't know this was gonna happen!" he lied.

"You didn't know this would _happen_?" she hissed menacingly, her great blue eyes flashing with red flames of anger.

"No," Sirius stumbled, attempting to make up a good enough lie. "I didn't! I don't know how it happened but it did!"

"Well you had better fix it or someone's gonna pay," she growled, her angered face inches from his own. "And I think the person to pay should be that dear little mudblood Potter fancies so much," she sneered as an evil afterthought.

With one last push in the chest she stalked out of the broom closet, leaving Sirius to think of a way to fix the problem he made. Also, the one he had kept to himself.

* * *

"Are you done yet?" Lily moaned, rubbing her temples with her free hand.

"In a minute, Lily," James insisted, still sketching on his parchment.

Lily let out a bored sigh and felt her head, which had been resting on her hand, fall with a clunk to the table. James gave a start at the sound and glanced at her to make sure she was okay, including a sharp poke to her head to see if she was conscious.

"Well thank you for that, Potter," Lily snarled as she rubbed the tender spot on her head. "Please hurry up. Its past eleven and I have a quiz tomorrow to study for!"

"I have the same quiz and you're exaggerating."

"How am I exaggerating?"

"It is not past eleven," James said confidently. "It's past twelve."

Lily let out another pitiful moan along with a mourning sob. "Can we go _now_?" she asked, glancing at his wristwatch.

"Yes, fine, whatever," James answered. Anything to make his Lilykins happy.

Wait. Did he just say that?

* * *

"Wake up, Lily."

"Goway."

"Lily, wake up."

"Idonwanna."

"Lily, please wake up. Now."

"Lemelone."

"Hey, Lily, someone's ripping apart the Charms notebook."

Two terrified screams erupted in the dormitory as both Lily and Remus shot up in bed, hearts pounding, looking around for the culprit of book-ripping-upping. Their heads swiveled around frantically, attempting to find the book they were to save, but when they saw it was just a trick, they both glared at James with utter disgust.

"That was not funny Prongs," Remus declared, falling with a thump back onto his pillow, rolling over, pulling the sheets up to his nose and going back to bed.

"It was necessary to wake Lily up!" James protested even though he knew Moony would never understand.

Lily attempted to pull a Remus and flop back onto the bed and roll back asleep when James stopped her, grabbing her wrist as her head hit the pillow.

"Why the sodding hell did you wake me up?" Lily growled, wanting to go back to bed more than ever.

"Because we have a very important topic at hand," James said coyly.

"No, Potter," Lily said with a sigh. "I will not shag you. Thank you but no thank you now good night," she finished, rolling over, her arm twisted back in an odd angle, still attached to his.

"That's a very nice idea – but no," James said, dirty-boy-mind-land taking over. Fighting for control, he said, "There's the small matter of -" But he was cut short.

"Quidditch! Quidditch! Quidditch! Quidditch! Quidditch!" Sirius squealed, coming out of the bathroom with a bang, his hair wet but his smile bright.

"Quidditch," James finished dully.

Lily gaped at James. This was made to look like a very cruel glare as she stared "blankly" at him, daring him to go on, but was just ruined by the fact that her hair WAS standing on its edge, looking rather porcupine-ish and that she had bags under her eyes AND that she was yawning as she "glared/gaped" at him. Wow. Totally convincing.

"That Glare of Death doest work on me, Evans," James said flatly, staring right back at Lily. "It only turns me on."

Lily glared a little more, wanting to throttle him with her pillow. The only thing keeping from her from actually throttling him was the idea of walking around with a dead James attached to her hand. C'mon, he's gotta be at LEAST 150 pounds. Who wants to carry that much dead weight around?

Pun intended.

"Get dressed, okay Evans?" he continued, getting up and leaving her with the only option to get up as well. "We'll head out to the pitch in an hour… after we both eat."

"You are such an arse, Potter," Lily grumbled an hour later as they trudged down to the Quidditch pitch, ready to "play the final game of the season! The one that our life depends on! Dear man, OUR LIVES DEPEND ON IT SO DO NOT LET ME DOWN!" (That was to quote James's pep talk speech yesterday at practice. Granted, of course he fell into a heap on the grass and was shaking so badly, he nearly had to be taken to the Hospital Wing. And he looked like he was doing an odd twitch dance as he walked back to the common room. But whatever.)

"But a lot of people love me for it."

"I am excluded in that loving bunch then," Lily said.

James felt that pang of pangs of pangs of pangs go through his heart like a bloody dagger, but he attempted to brush it off. If only he knew that Lily felt the same way.

* * *

Quidditch sucks was the first thing to pop into Lily's mind that afternoon. Yes, truth be told she had completely forgotten about James having to play in the game that afternoon and it was also proven that she _really _shouldn't have eaten breakfast. This was made especially clear when she vomited all over the locker rooms.

"C'mon, Lily," James whispered urgently to her. "We need to be on the Pitch in, like, two minutes."

"Mmmph."

Lily was obviously was too sick to think of playing Quidditch. And she wasn't even going to be _playing _the sport.

"Lily," James repeated, shaking her knee with his hand. "Please, Lily."

Lily glanced up and saw his pathetically desperate face and, swallowing a gulp, stood up and followed him out of the locker rooms.

* * *

How Potter managed to play Quidditch with enthusiasm, Lily just didn't know.

Opening her eyes she looked up and found herself staring at the ceiling of the hospital wing. She wriggled, uncomfortable in her spot and winced as she felt pain shoot up her spine. From beside her she heard James jump and move closer to her.

"You okay, Lily?" he asked in a whisper, leaning over her to check that she was okay.

Lily pinched her eyes shut, tears of pain streaming out from behind her eyelids.

"Madam Pomfrey!" James called over his shoulder.

Within seconds the witch came bustling out of her office and over to where Lily lay, crumpled up, on the hospital bed.

"Yes, Potter, what is it?" she asked in a rush.

"Its Lily – she's in pain," James said, indicating said girl on the bed.

"Miss Evans?" Pomfrey asked, turning to her patient. "Are you okay?"

"Not really," Lily choked, tears still streaming out her eyes.

"Well … I wouldn't expect much else with a broken spine. It's going to take a bit for the pain to wear off. I'll get you some potion. Sit still and I'll be back in a moment." With that the witch wandered off in search of potion.

"What happened?" Lily asked weakly, turning to face James.

"Well," James said, rubbing his thumb against Lily's hand. "After we won, well, the Ravenclaws got a bit, well – pissed – so they aimed a – um – Bludger at us and – well – it ended up hitting you and you – er…" James trailed off, unable to finish what he was saying.

True story was the Ravenclaws got _very _upset with the Gryffindor victory, that they decided best chance to get revenge was pelt a Bludger at the captain, and, instead of hitting James, it hit an unsuspecting Lily, square in the back, knocking her off the broom, dangling over a hundred feet in the air, with wide, terrified eyes. James was able to get her back up to his broom, but her back was bleeding like mad from the contact and the broken bones. He sped off towards the hospital wing, flying through the halls due to Lily's pain (she was unable to walk at ALL). After the guilty Beater had been questioned, of course, all he could think of to say was, "Um … whoops?" in response to Lily's injuries which really shot James through the roof in the anger department.

Lily was already in tears, true, with all the pain. But hearing the story of her pain just made her cry more. And then, finding out that she'd only be in the hospital wing for another day, she cried even more, not wanting to leave the warm safety.

But, James being the excellent boyfriend he was –

Oh shit.

Lily _so did not _just think that. She _so did not just think that._

* * *

**Author's Ramblings: **-Evil laugh- Oh yes, a fantastic chapter, in my opinion. This chapter took FOREVER to post 'cause I was having SUCH a hard time thinking of HOW to write it, WHAT to put in it and what ORDER to put it in. So I ended up writing four or so pages of one "chapter 11" and four or so pages of another "chapter 11" – then I edited around and smooshed it together in a nice little chapter. At least I think so.

Oh, and I have to defend myself momentarily. Some people have read **Procrastinator-starting2moro**'s story, Hand-in-Hand, so those of you might think that I'm "copying" her work, just wording it differently. But I NEED to tell you that I had the idea to have a bunch of this stuff (like what happens in the next chapter and the things that have already happened) put in a story, and the only way to make it better was to sew them together at the hands. So, I can honestly say it does look similar to Hand-in-Hand, but I guarantee you that this is my One-hundred-percent original works and ideas. Honest.

Thanks for being awesome readers!


	12. And So The Games Begin

**Author's Note: **I know none of you really care about my life … you just want the friggin chapter already. LOL. Yes, I know. But I must defend myself for why this chapter is extremely late. It's been boy stuff. Yes, the glorious world of boy stuff. Yay! I really shouldn't tell you details cause you just might think I'm an evil little witch with a capital 'B' – but whatever. There's this guy I like – and he likes me back, so don't panic – and non-stop flirting is a good way to lift my spirits. Well, bad news is he's got a girlfriend. But when I daydream I pretend she doesn't exist. Don't hate me. Please don't.

**Dedication: **Yes, it has taken me about two or three weeks to write this. But for once in my history (Haha, yeah right) of fanfic, I have decided to dedicate this story to you guys (my readers). If you're a girl and you've ever had your heart played with by a boy, I dedicate this chapter to you. If you've ever felt that confusing tug, wondering what the bleep you're supposed to do… then bravo. This is for you. I just had to switch the roles a bit to write this out in the story. Because in my secret suspicions file, I have to believe that there was this major conflict of emotions in Lily and James's relationship. There HAD to have been some confusion and panic. Right?

**Usual Apology: **Yeah… sorry for any typos.

* * *

**Chapter Twelve – And So the Games Begin**

"Please be careful, dear," Madam Pomfrey said as she led Lily (and the attached James) out the door. "Here are your flowers, hon." She handed two vases full to the edges of flowers to James to carry.

"Thank you," Lily said as she limped slowly down the hall.

"You alright, Lily?" James asked after they'd walked up a flight of stairs.

"I'm fine, thanks," Lily said softly as the portrait hole swung open to admit her.

James offered her his shoulder as they made their way up to the boys' dormitory. She graciously took it and when they arrived in the room she fell down with a thump on James's bed. James let out an "Oof!" as he fell down on the bed beside her. Not wanting to ruin Lily's "peace" he lay down beside her and scooted forward (so he wouldn't fall off the bed, of course).

"Thank you, James," Lily said quietly, her face hidden by his pillow.

"Anytime, Lily, anytime," he replied equally quiet.

Lily closed her eyes and curled up in a small ball and was asleep within minutes.

Smiling to himself, James reached out his free hand to brush away a lock of her hair. He knew it wasn't necessary, but he couldn't stop himself. Abandoning restraint, he reached his hand out again and began to stroke her hair as he fell asleep too.

* * *

Two days later Lily was feeling back to normal. Two days later, the games had also begun.

"Morning, James," Lily whispered into his ear as they woke up.

"Watch where you're going, Potter," Lily snapped as James accidentally stepped on her outside of Charms.

"Could you please keep your hand off me?" she asked icily as James placed his hand on the small of her back to help her through the door.

"James, I've had a great evening," she whispered into his shoulder as they hugged.

"I don't want to leave this spot," she mumbled into the pillow as James stroked her back one evening.

"James, could you _please _keep your distance? Even though we're attached at the hand, there is no reason for you to touch me _more_."

"Potter. Stop it."

"Oh, James, don't stop."

"Leave. Now."

"Don't leave. Please don't."

"James! I'm sick of telling you!"

"You mean everything to me, you know."

"Can I have one more hug?"

"_What _did I say about the _touching_!"

"James!"

"James!"

"You're being an arse. Quit bothering me!"

"I can't wait till I'm out of your hand and summer begins! This is so stressful!"

"Time could stop and let us stay in this moment forever."

"I just love you because you're so … great."

"Will you stop it already?"

"You don't get it, do you?"

"You know what I'm saying, right? That I love you?"

"When the hell did I say I loved you?"

"The night is coming awful quick. Light your wand – or keep the moon for company?"

"I enjoy talking to you so much … it always makes me happy."

"Will you shut up? Your voice is driving me up the wall!"

"It feels perfect being in your arms…"

"I can smell the death coming from here … its like, a gross flower, telling me that death is coming cause I'm, like, right next to Death himself or something."

"I want to live next to you forever."

"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY LIFE!"

"Which is worse: being attached to you, or being covered in stinksap?"

"James…"

"James!"

"Please!"

"Don't!"

"Stop!"

"Keep going … don't stop."

"Shut up!"

"Keep going…"

"I HATE YOU!"

"I think I might love you."

"I never said that."

"Freeze time and let us stay here … please."

"You bloody moron! What is your problem?"

"James?"

And poor James finally felt that his heart had stretched to its limits.

* * *

_Let's get creative here._

What the hell is this?

_James, you're talking to Moony. You know that._

I said "what" – not "who." Moron.

_You should know where I'm going by now._

Actually, I don't.

_Ugh… fine. I sense that you are having some problems and since you cannot speak to us in person, we've invented this nifty art of…_

Note passing?

_With a twist! You just tap the paper and your words appear. Oh! And what's better is you just tap the paper again and it appears in front of the addressee!_

You might actually be gay enough to make that work.

_I'll pretend you didn't say that._

So where's Peter and Sirius?

_They're with me. They're the bloody idiots making stupid comments._

Then what the hell are they giggling about over there?

_Apparently Sirius just made a spider kiss his arse._

WHAT?

_That's Sirius for us… apparently he insulted him._

How the hell would he know if the spider had insulted him?

_I don't know, James. And you're changing the subject._

Very well. Give me your advice.

_Well, first tell me what the hell is happening._

Well, Lily is just… difficult.

_We've known that since the day we first met her. Tell me something I don't know – but I doubt you'd be able to do that. How is she difficult?_

She's all over me and telling me that she loves me and snuggling up and everything that we could ever want whenever we're alone or when there's only a person or two around. And then when we're around a bunch of people she's a nasty little rat and acts like she hates me.

_So she's playing with your heart?_

I think she gave it to a toddler to play with on a twelve day cruise, actually.

_Ouch._

Yeah. So give me the advice before I jump off the astronomy tower – even if Lily is attached to me.

_Well… have you tried talking to her?_

Every time I bring it up she apologizes then goes back to being all snuggly and stuff… and she convinces me that she really is in love with me.

_How so?_

'I love you' and 'I just can't wait till we're together' and stuff like 'You're so sweet' and 'You're the best' – stuff like that. That I always want to hear.

_Lily's quite familiar in the dating department you know, though. So she has her tricks. She's skilled._

And that's what I hate. What if she's just playing with me?

_She wouldn't do that. She's too serious. You know that._

But she might be trying to be different or something.

_She wouldn't do that. And even if she did, she wouldn't do it to you. I think, at least._

Well that's helpful, Moony. Thanks a load.

_Well I don't know what to tell you! She's…_

She's what?

_Maybe she's confused…_

SHE'S confused? I'M confused!

_Well … like … she doesn't really know what to do. And when she's alone with you she lives in the now and she acts upon her urges and plays along with them. She enjoys it. And then she has time to herself or whatever to think about it and when she's around her friends she probably realizes that what she did was wrong … and she's playing a stupid game with herself._

What she did was wrong? You think that?

_No, I don't, mate. But that's probably what she thinks. You never know._

Yeah, you're right. You never know.

_I honestly don't know what to tell you, mate. I can't tell you that she's in love with you… and I can't tell you that she isn't._

So how will I ever know?

_Ask her?_

I can't. Because she'll say yes.

_And what's the problem with that?_

Because once I make a move in public, she'll tell me to bugger off and quit dreaming up trees.

_Why would she do that?_

Because she's done it already.

_No she hasn't._

You don't know what she's done, mate.

_Well, sorry, Prongs._

No sweat.

_So wait and see?_

There's only one problem with that.

_And what's that problem?_

I'll wait forever and never see.

* * *

**Author's Ramblings: **No, not all of this is centered on my life. Two sentences, actually, I do believe. Oh, and the paragraph about being confused. I think that applies to the guy I'm liking right now. So anyways, only a teensy bit of that relates to my current life. LOL. But anyways, I actually seven napkins in my tote bag with this stuff scribbled all over it. My mom and I were at In-N-Out Burger a week ago and I was just bored, eating random French fries, and I got this MARVELOUS (okay, gay, but give me a break) idea for the note passing. LOL. Oh, and all the random moments. –Sigh- So yeah. I got to shred those (I've got random doodles on them).

So once again we're both bored. But here's something story related!

If you read through it – or guess (like I did… I counted out the days from pure "memory") – you'll see that a week remains for Lily and James! After a week their hands will be ripped apart! Yay! But yeah… so I'm guessing ten more chapters. But that's just me.

So… please **review!**


	13. Confrontations

**Author's Ramblings: **Yeah, it's taken forever to update. Sorry about that. Life just kinda sucks for me at the moment.

**About the chapter: **Sorry it's so short. It's just kind of necessary, seeing where it ends and all. And I don't want a tail-ish chapter. The next one will come VERY SOON though, so don't worry. Please don't kill me.

**Duh: **Sorry for any typos.

**Chapter Thirteen – Confrontations**

Maybe it was the weather. Maybe it was PMS. Maybe it was something in the water. But whatever it was, it was there.

Perhaps the decreased Quidditch training was getting to him. Perhaps the confusion was finally drilling a hole through his tolerance level. Perhaps he was too in love to actually notice. But whatever it was, it was hiding.

They both knew that something went wrong somewhere along the road. They both knew that they had made a mistake – a deadly mistake.

Lily and James sat in silence that evening in the common room. They didn't know what to say or do or anything that could make it better – or make it easier to pretend it hadn't happened. The surrounding marauders had shuffled off to their own part of the castle an hour before and the girls that always flanked Lily had also gotten up to leave. Fellow students in the room had watched them leave, all wondering why. The reason was simple… they could feel the chills spread up their arms and slide down their spines just looking at the pair.

They knew that the "couple" was suffering but even they didn't know what had happened or how to help. All they could do was give them the time to think it all through.

Lily's hand was resting softly on her thigh… but the thoughts had gotten to her. She scratched at the fabric of her skirt and clenched it in her hand. She squeezed her eyes shut while tightly pursing her lips. She exhaled slowly out her nose and opened her eyes as two tears spilled out her eye. She gave a shaky sigh and swallowed more tears that sat with her thoughts.

James might have noticed… if he himself hadn't been biting back tears.

* * *

Silence.

Professors could tell you that it was the best thing in the world when they got the students – especially the marauders – to shut up. But right now silence was deafening.

As the bell rang at the release of Transfiguration, Lily tugged James's hand and mumbled something about taking a walk. Already this wasn't of her standard. She didn't skip classes.

The two walked out to the lake – the typical talking spot – in silence.

They walked in circles around the warm waters for half an hour, not talking.

But, finally the silence was broken with Lily's voice.

"I don't know… if I can… if I can do this, James," she whispered.

"Do what, Lily?" James asked, glancing at her.

"I cant – I cant… l-love you…."

The past days events came back in a rush and every bit of pain and frustration James had experienced in those hours came back to the surface. He was ready to fight – scratch and snarl and die if necessary. Emotions were painful, and James had plenty.

"You can't love me?" James asked, spinning around to face her, his eyes hard as rocks.

"I'm sorry, James!" she exclaimed. "I want to, I really do – but I can't!"

"WHY CANT YOU?" James roared, fire nearly dancing in his eyes.

"We're too different, James," Lily said faintly. "We're near opposites and we're not meant to be!"

"Different my arse!" he exclaimed. "The past couple days have been near bliss for me, Lily. I've enjoyed every minute of being this close to you, sleeping next to you, eating with you – everything! And I think you've enjoyed it too," he ended with a sour tone.

"James, please don't make me do this!"

"Do what, Lily?" James snapped "Do what? You keep saying you can't do it or you don't want to do it or you won't do it – it's all about doing whatever the hell it is! But you won't tell me what it is!"

"I can't…"

"Love me? You want to stay with the 'you can't love me' deal?"

"James!" Lily cried, her eyes watering.

"Lily, I am sorry, but I cannot _do _this either," he said, turning away from her. "I am _sick _of you playing your stupid games with me! I am so fed up with you I – I can't even look at you, Lily!"

"James…" she said softly.

"No, Lily. Don't. Make up your bloody mind, Lily. I cannot do this if you don't want it."

"I want it, James, honest I do, but-"

"Then what's the problem?" he snarled.

"I just… cant."

"Quit it, Evans," James spat.

It stung Lily, it really did. It was the first time he'd used her surname in a long while.

"Please don't do this, James!"

"Stop it, Lily!" James screamed. "STOP WITH THE 'THIS'S AND THE 'IT'S AND ALL THE OTHER SHIT YOU HAVE TO GIVE! STOP THE DAMN STORIES UNTIL YOU'RE," James stopped to catch his breath and calm himself. "Until you're ready to face the truth."

"What truth, James?" Lily asked, her words sharp like a knife.

His voice went low so it was below a whisper. The wind in the air around them would have covered his words if Lily hadn't been so close. "That you love me."

And with a flash, their joined hands were engulfed in flames. Lily screamed although it touched her with no pain as James ripped his hand out of hers and stormed off down the grounds towards the Forbidden Forest.

* * *

**Author's Ramblings: **CLIFF HANGER! OOO YEAH! Finally, finally I get to write a cliff hanger! –Does that weird Spongebob dance that looks like a slomo hula hoop thing- Haha. Oh, and in my opinion, I kinda think this is a shitty chapter. But I guess that's just me. Oh, and don't worry – there's still the ten chapter promise! So DO NOT think that this is ANYWHERE near the end. Kay? Good. 


	14. Battles Unwanted

**Author's Ramblings: **Soon! Like I promised! Aren't you proud of me? Now, I know this isn't the typical length of my chapters, but think of Chapter Thirteen as a 'Part A' and this chapter as a 'Part B' – okay? Then it'll go back on track.

**P.S.: **Sorry for any typos… duh.

**Chapter Fourteen – Battles Unwanted**

_That _was _not _normal. Not normal in _any way_.

They were supposed to be glued together for _two endless weeks_. Halfway through that sentence it was _not expected _to have their hands _ripped apart_.

_Not normal_.

Lily stood watching as James's cloak disappeared with a swish behind a tree. She couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe it at all.

She glanced down at her hand, half suspecting damage to be done. But there was none to be seen. Her hand was perfectly the same – as if nothing had happened to it. She flexed her fingers and clenched her fist; boy did it feel good to do that.

She sent one last quizzical look in the direction James had gone before running towards the castle, in hopes of finding truth in her trusty friend: the library.

* * *

James was mad.

He was mad, hurt, sad, spitting fire, stressed, confused and scared.

And he didn't like it at all.

Love wasn't supposed to be a _battle_. You weren't supposed to have to _bully _and _fight _to get the other person to fall in love with you. It _wasn't worth it _if he had to fight tooth and nail to get Lily to hold him in a hug and realize that what she was doing was _what she wanted_. He couldn't do that. Not to him or to her.

* * *

"Merlin!" Lily gave a muffled scream as she slammed her hand down on the bookshelf. The search for answers wasn't going as easily as she'd hoped. "Why can't I find anything in here?" she asked the books.

"Find what, Lily?" Alice asked, coming up behind her.

"Ahhhhhh!" Lily screamed, toppling over her own feet and landing with an "oof!" on the floor. "You scared me!"

"Sorry, Lily," Alice said, helping Lily up. "But what cant you find?"

"I need… well, haven't you noticed that I'm, well, _missing something_?" Lily asked, waving her hand limply at her side.

"OH MY GOODNESS! You're right!"

"Yes, and I need to know _how _and _why _this happened. I'm almost certain it's only temporary. But…" Lily drifted off, gazing at the books in confusion.

"But what?" Alice prompted.

"Well, James and I had a nasty fight, and I'm thinking he completely lost his temper and really needed to be alone so that's why the spell was broken temporarily. You know?" she asked.

"Well, I can see that. But what did you fight about?"

"I'd rather not say," Lily said quietly, not looking at her friend.

Alice studied her up and down silently for a minute.

"Of course, I understand."

"But… I need to research this!" Lily exclaimed, running her finger along the spines of the books. "Who do we know who can help?"

Alice was quiet for a moment.

"Remus?" she suggested.

* * *

Night had fallen soon after their fight and now the moon shone bright in the sky as James trudged along the path of the Forbidden Forest, his robes catching on random twigs and such, ripping every couple steps. But he really didn't seem to care. He was in more of a trance than anything else.

James sighed as he dropped down to the forest floor.

It wasn't supposed to be like this.

He rested his elbow on his knee and drooped his head to rest in his hand. James was lost in thought.

He drew a sad face in the dirt before him and sighed as a gust of wind ripped the pattern out of the hearth. Depression was in the air, that was for sure.

Many different sounds were heard to James as he played with a brown leaf that had fallen. The bugs were scuttling across the forest ground, birds were rustling in their trees, death and heartbreak was all around him.

* * *

"Remus!" Lily whispered, her head poking into the boys' dormitories. "Pssst! Remus!" she hissed louder.

A groggy Remus looked up from his place in bed, rubbed his eyes and looked at the door through a squint.

"Lily?" he murmured.

"Get out here, Remus. I need your help, please," she pleaded, opening the door a bit, inviting him out of the dorm.

He threw back the covers and stumbled out of bed, his pajamas in odd disarray and his hair clumped into messy bunches at random parts. He stifled a yawn and scratched his neck as he followed Lily out into the hall.

"You rang?" he asked sarcastically, looking at her through bleary eyes.

"Yes," Lily said, glancing around, nervous for some reason. "I need your help."

Remus straightened a bit.

"Help with what?" he asked semi-stiffly, yet concernedly all the same.

"I'm _missing something_," Lily said through clenched teeth, a bit upset that no one seemed to notice. "And I need to know _how our hands were separated_."

The news came to Remus with shock. His gaze dropped quickly to Lily's hand and noticed that no, it didn't have James attached to it. His jaw dropped.

"What happened?" he asked, all sleepiness dropped from his voice.

"I don't know!" Lily cried quietly. "We had a fight and then there was this fire thing with our hands and next thing I know he's marching off into the forest, not attached to me at all!"

"He's in the forest?" Remus asked, going still.

"Yes, but he's fine…" Lily said, starting to wonder if her comment was fact or fiction.

"Lily, don't you think that's a bit dangerous?" Remus asked, turning around to glance out the window.

"Remus! Please! I need help – help _now_! I am so lost it's not even remotely funny!" Lily exclaimed, grabbing the front of his pajama t-shirt and pulling him towards her.

Remus sighed. "Fine, Lily. Look," he said, backing up a bit, "give me five minutes and I'll have a book and some notes ready for you to read _while _I go and find James. Good?" He looked at her for approval.

"Um… yeah, sure," Lily said, slightly distracted for some unknown reason.

"Good," he repeated. He backed up and dashed into the dorm and got to work.

* * *

_A wizard's emotions affect the strength, distance and effect of a spell, potion or curse. Current events in his/her life come into play while dealing with their wand – or the remains of someone else's spell, potion or curse. The greatest sorcerer in the world could have a terribly bad day and end up having a spell backfire on him because of pent-up emotions or similar feelings. When a wizard hits a level, his emotions overrule any spell, potion or curse, and bend those rules to accommodate the wizard's emotions._

Lily skipped down to read Remus's direct notes.

_He was upset, Lily, and that's the pure reason for why you're hands separated. He needed to get away from you for a while, so in that case, his feelings beat down the potion that kept your hands together. Basically, you will remain apart until he feels better and can face you again. And, if we have a nice enough conversation tonight, he should be ready to do that within twenty-four hours. The words you guys exchanged must have been harsh to push James to such a level. He loves you so much, Lily, you should know that. _

_P.S. I advise still sleeping in our dorm, James's bed, of course. I would get in there shortly after finishing this, for James's benefit. When your hands want to rejoin – and believe me, they will – its going to be a bit painful if you're on opposite ends of the grounds. It would be easier if you were closer. Good night._

"He loves you so much, Lily, you should know that," Lily mouthed. Her stomach clenched at the words. She loved him, but she knew she couldn't. She didn't want to. It was too dangerous to love James Potter. There were too many risks in it. But all the same she couldn't exactly sleep, knowing that what Remus said was right – and knowing that she had pushed James to an extreme that he'd never touched before.

* * *

"James?" Remus called, moving his way through the branches.

He grumbled in response.

"Hey mate, hows it going?" Remus asked, sitting down next to him.

He grumbled again.

"C'mon, Prongs, it can't be that bad."

James nodded his head.

"So it can be."

He nodded his head again.

"Care to share?"

He shook his head.

"And reason for that?"

He nodded.

"Care to share _that _reason?"

James sighed.

"James, you need to tell me what's going on so I can be in the loop a bit and _help you_."

He took a deep breath and looked up from spot on the ground.

"It's stupid, Moony," James said finally. "It's so stupid."

"Well lucky for you I know stupid pretty well – hanging out with Sirius and all," Remus smiled at his joke. "So shoot. Tell me."

James ran a hand through his already disheveled hair.

He sighed.

"I guess it all kind of started a while ago…" James began as he launched into the entire story.

* * *

"I screwed it al up," Lily moaned into James's pillow, her fists tightening on the cover that she held down over her head.

She thrashed around under the covers, unable to kick the guilt out of the bed.

This wasn't working out. Not working out at all.

* * *

"So, Prongs, mate, let's get you back up to the dorm, into your pajamas and asleep. Call tomorrow a rest day and sleep in," Remus said, patting James on the back.

"Thanks, Moony," James said weakly, standing up and brushing off his robes.

"That's what friends are for, James."

"Yeah… that's what marauders are for."

* * *

**Author's Ramblings: **YES! I think I made this chapter relatively nice. –Pats chapter affectionately- I was actually thinking it'd end up being only a couple pages and I'd literally have to ring out all the ideas just to get a decent "half" chapter. But I actually couldn't stop typing. LOL! Anyways… now you have to wait a couple more years for me to get my lazy bum out of bed and actually write chapter fifteen. HA!

Haha, JK, but I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I hope it's not too "OMG, WTF did she do to it?" But if it's let me know. Thanks.

**P.S. **Hey, if any of you have livejournal, message me or leave a review with your address/URL/link-thingy.


	15. Apologies, Kisses and Endings

**Author's Notes: **I'm sorry it's late. Two months late, really. And it's short. I'm sorry.

**Chapter Fifteen – Apologies, Kisses and Endings**

* * *

_I'm sorry, James. I'm so sorry. I thought I lost you when you disappeared. I thought I'd never be happy again. Everyone said this and that and all it did was make my stomach clench and be in pain. Because now that I listen to the silence next to me instead of your breathing as you sleep I realize that I really do love you and I really do need you. I can't do this without you. Earlier I had said that I couldn't do this because of you. That we were too different. But I realize that I can't do it without you. I need you. I want you. I love you. _

_James, words cannot express how sorry I am. They can't even begin to describe how much I love you. I just want to wake up in the morning with you beside me and your hand in mine, listening to your breathing. I want us to be an 'us.' I need you in my life, James. I love you. I can't say that enough._

_Please forgive me for everything I said last night and everything I might have done to hurt you. To hurt you wasn't my intention. I just was trying to not hurt myself. But it turns out that I managed to bugger that up in a right hurry. Please, James, please. Think about it._

James stared at the note on his pillow. Lily was sleeping beside it, her brow furrowed and she continually rolled over again and again as if having a bad dream. It stung him to think that he wasn't – or couldn't – stop her and make her feel better but his attention was drawn to the note. He'd forgive her, he knew he would.

He crawled into bed and pulled the sheets up close to his neck.

"Lily," he mumbled into her ear, shaking her arm. "Lily."

"Mmm?"

"Lily," he repeated.

Her eyes opened and she saw James's hazel eyes staring into her own. "James," she said, and immediately she was awake.

"I love you, Lily."

"I love you too, James."

They stared at each other in silence.

"Can I kiss you?"

James stared at her.

"Can I kiss you?" Lily repeated, a bit above a whisper.

"No, you can't," James said with a grin.

"Then will you kiss me?"

"No."

"James," Lily said. "C'mon. You've been begging me every day for the past six years."

"You can't kiss me cause you will kiss me. And I won't kiss you cause I'm thinking this is a dream."

They grinned.

"Just kiss me, dammit."

James leaned over and kissed Lily softly on the lips.

"Are we an 'us,' now?" she asked.

"If you want it to be."

"With all my heart."

"Then we're an us."

Lily glanced down at her hand. She flexed it.

"We're not back together yet," she noticed. "But my hand's tingling."

"Emotions overrule spells and potions."

"But you're not mad anymore."

"But I love you. And I want to hold you. And I need two hands to do that."

"So tomorrow our hands will be back?"

"No. Tomorrow I'll want to hug and kiss you. I'll want to hold you and be with you. I'll still need two hands tomorrow. And the next day and the next day and the next day."

Lily leaned over and kissed him.

"Together forever?" she asked.

"Together forever," James agreed.

They snuggled down close together and fell asleep, completely forgetting that they could both be in their own dormitories because their hands wouldn't be back together for ages (unless they willingly held hands).

And as they drifted off into sleep and dreams, the stars twinkled in the sky like a typical movie ending.

**--THE END--**

* * *

**Author's Ramblings: **Just about the gayest ending I've ever given. I apologize, too. I went over two months without updating and then I've got the smallest, under 700-words update. That I'm calling my ending. I really am sorry, though. I just sorta ran out of ideas. I'm going to start work on updating _A Marauder Summer _real soon so if you enjoyed this story, could you please check that one out as well? I'm sure you'll enjoy it. And thanks for reading this one, it means a lot.

Reviews would be nice, even if they're scolding me for ending so abruptly.

Again, thanks for reading.

P.S. My pen-name is changing in the next couple days, for any of you who have me on Author Alert. It should change to RandomeecesPieces or something of the sort.


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